Chapter 57: A Love Confession of He Zheng (1/2)
Translator: Dragon Rider
The long and tedious meeting lasted until ten o'clock in the evening. For Li Zong, who usually went to bed at half past ten, this was a rare exception.
He wondered whether or not He Zheng had finished dinner and what he was doing at this moment.
On his way back home, Li Zong kept having an urge to fish out his cellphone and make a phone call to He Zheng, but he was afraid that he might have turned in, so he forbore from doing it.
When he returned to the Century Town, it was already a few minutes past eleven.
Li Zong softly pushed the door open without any noise. As a high-ranking officer of the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB), Li Zong believed that he had probably never acted so cautiously in his whole life.
However, the light in the living room was still ablaze. He Zheng was sitting cross-legged on a sofa, a pile of things placed beside him –books, notebooks as well as some yellow blank Fu (Fu is a piece of rectangular paper on which magical figures are drawn by Chinese Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits and bring good or ill fortune) paper.
”Oh, you're back. That Zu Zhichong guy gave me some illustrated books on Fu-craft.” He Zheng, who was clearly in a pretty good mood, raised the book in his hand and waved it.
Li Zong's heart was melted by this sudden smile of He Zheng's. Seldom had anybody kept the light on waiting for him at such a late hour of night, unless he was in Li family, though the reason why this little guy in front of him was still awake was probably that he was not used to going to bed early.
But a place where there was a light ablaze and a person waiting for someone tended to give a sense of belonging to the one being waited, making them subconsciously take the liberty of calling this place home.
Even Li Zong himself failed to sense that his face, which stood grim almost all the time, gradually softened. In a natural manner, he walked up to He Zheng's side and sat down. Even his voice was tinged with some kind of warmth that was not usually in there. ”Um. How's it going with your reading?”
”So far, so good. I have a natural aptitude for drawing,” He Zheng replied casually and glimpsed at Li Zong, feeling that Li Zong's complexion was flawless.
Suddenly, as if something had just occurred to him, he tossed a somewhat awkward glance at Li Zong and inquired of him, ”Did you have supper?”
In fact, Li Zong had long ago reached the level of Bigu and barely needed food to keep his body functioning. On top of that, he was a picky eater and common food didn't really take his fancy. Moreover, the meeting had ended at a late hour and he had been in a hurry to get back home, so he had not had the time to get anything to eat.
Li Zong was also dismayed. It had never crossed his mind that He Zheng would ask him a question of this kind.
”I did.” Beneath He Zheng's eyes, Li Zong decisively told a short lie consisting of two words.
”Oh.” He Zheng gave a cough. In ordinary times, he was not too bad at manipulating other men. All he needed to do was make full use of his charming looks, and sometimes even this step could be skipped. Never once had he tried so hard.
He briefly bit his lower lip, gave another unnatural cough, fished something out of his pocket and tossed it into Li Zong's hand.
Li Zong looked at it and, to his surprise, saw that it was a bag of bread about the size of a pocket.
He instantly dissolved into smile.
The sight of the smile on Li Zong's face reduced He Zheng to a loss of composure, and even his breathing was growing heavier. As his mouth tightened into a thin line, he secretly disdained himself for being such a good-for-nothing, wondering why he was acting like such a coward when faced with such a petty matter. He Zheng could barely forbear to slap himself on the face.
However, this kind of self-goad was probably working well, since He Zheng soon calmed down. He quietly watched Li Zong. Before he met this man, he had instinctively taken a dislike to him, but at their first meeting, he had found that Li Zong was totally different from whom he had imagined him to be.
Besides, this man seemed to like him pretty much.
After that, he had been gradually coming to know Li Zong better all along. Though appearing a man of loose morals, He Zheng was actually fairly heartless. He had been trifling with people's affections for so many years, yet this was the first time that he had felt truly attracted to someone.
Maybe it was because of that remark of Li Zong ”as my partner, you enjoy the privilege...” when he was playing with his cellphone under the tree on this day. Maybe it was because of Li Zong's notebook. Or maybe it was because of Li Zong's apathetic and alienating profile he saw on the flight on that day...
He Zheng didn't know when, but he had begun to grow a fondness for Li Zong.
He Zheng stroked his forehead and recalled that spell of scorching heat. Zu Zhichong had told him that injecting a portion of primordial spirit into another person would take a heavy toll on the one who performed the enchantment.