The post was a formal denunciation of Xie Qingcheng, directly tagging Huzhou Medical School to demand that he resign from his position.
He Yu took a closer look.
Since the broadcasting tower incident blew up, Xie Qingcheng and the people around him were no longer the only ones being targeted. The pressure of a mob could sometimes grow into an avalanche. Now, even Huzhou Medical School was embroiled in the conflict.
The masses wrote letters, made online posts, and lodged complaints with the relevant departments, calling into question the professional judgment of Huzhou Medical School for hiring such a professor. Never mind the question of whether Xie Qingcheng had ties to criminal organizations; they argued that someone who'd mocked Qin Ciyan like that shouldn't be teaching at Qin Ciyan's alma mater at all.
That post had an especially high number of interactions, but there were many others.
He Yu looked on indifferently, thinking that it was only right for Xie Qingcheng to be trapped in a situation of his own making like this. It wasn't as if anyone had forced him to say something so heartless.
But when He Yu turned off his phone and lay in bed silently, staring at the ceiling, he found that he wasn't actually all that happy about others cursing out Xie Qingcheng.
This was a personal matter between him and Xie Qingcheng, after all; He Yu felt that he was the only person who had the right to demand reparations from Xie Qingcheng for his remarks on mental illness. How was this anyone else's business? How meddlesome.
But as it turned out, things weren't as simple as He Yu thought.
In the days that followed, more and more posts like that cropped up, until Huzhou Medical School couldn't avoid the topic any longer. The school's administrators mulled the situation over, and eventually decided to ask Xie Qingcheng himself whether there was something more to the story.
Xie Qingcheng gave the exact same response as he'd given to Xie Xue and the others at his old residence. This time around, he didn't even hesitate before saying, "No. I was a little impulsive at the time and didn't think things through before speaking. I went a bit overboard, that's it."
The higher-up sighed and said with an air of deep regret, "Oh, Professor Xie…"
With that, they allowed Xie Qingcheng to leave.
Frankly speaking, Xie Qingcheng had made an inappropriate remark —nothing more. While his words were brutal, at the end of the day, he hadn't done anything irredeemably heinous. The mob couldn't even dig up any evidence that he was receiving illegal kickbacks for drug prescriptions or anything. They could only say, "I heard he deliberately recommends expensive medicine to patients," or, "I heard he charges his patients a five figure red envelope for every surgery he performs."
If these rumormongers had used their brains and eyes just a tad, they would have realized that Xie Qingcheng wasn't a surgeon and didn't perform operations at all. What a pity—to read the word "psychiatrist" on Xie Qingcheng's resume they probably would have needed a microscope, but as keyboard warriors who were always magnanimous, honest, and uncorrupted, they were constantly strapped for cash and couldn't invest in something so expensive. It was perfectly understandable that they missed this one unimportant word.
Furthermore, the video involved Mr. Qin Ciyan, the country's foremost scholar, who always spoke with consideration for his patients and put them first in his decisions. Xie Qingcheng had once worked at the same hospital as Qin Ciyan and later went on to teach at Huzhou Medical School, where Qin Ciyan had taught when he was younger, but if you compared the two, Xie Qingcheng looked like a worthless dog.
The waves of public opinion rolled in ceaselessly. In the end, even though the school officials knew perfectly well that it was foolish nonsense, they had no choice but to make a statement.
As late autumn gave way to winter, Xie Qingcheng received news of Huzhou Medical School's plan of action. He was to be suspended from his duties pending further review.
The dean was a cunning man. He did not specify the length of the suspension, likely because he intended to put Xie Qingcheng back to work as soon as the public furor died down.
It's just as well, Xie Qingcheng thought. He was in a terrible place right now, so the extra free time would give him the perfect opportunity to adjust his mental state. It wasn't a dismissal, so there was nothing for him to complain about.
Word of Xie Qingcheng's suspension spread like wildfire through the masses. Huzhou Medical School had made this decision to temper the public relations crisis, so the school's official Weibo page announced the news immediately.
Xie Xue saw the announcement. So did Chen Man.
The two of them called Xie Qingcheng in a frenzied panic only for him to shoo them away brusquely. At that moment, he was carrying a cardboard box of his office materials in his arms. It was too heavy to hold with his phone in his hand, so he truly couldn't be bothered to spare either of them more than a few words.
Xie Qingcheng walked to the run-down car parked in front of the school, threw the box into the trunk, and unlocked the vehicle. All he wanted to do was to drive back to the old house at Moyu Alley to get a good night's sleep. He'd worry about planning out his suspension period once he woke up.
But before he even managed to step into the car, Xie Qingcheng spotted a young man standing under an old camphor tree next to the parking lot—
He Yu.
It'd been a long time since the incident at the club. Xie Qingcheng had been so thoroughly tormented that night that he had spent most of the past two weeks trying to escape from the trauma that He Yu had inflicted on him with the help of nicotine and medication.
The only thing worth celebrating was that it seemed like He Yu had no intention of approaching him again, so Xie Qingcheng had believed this matter would slowly pass: he would never, ever have to see him again.
But against all reason, here He Yu was, exuding the same menacing aura that he had back at the club—an aura that was completely different from anything Xie Qingcheng had seen from him before.
It was as if all the wounds etched into Xie Qingcheng's psyche that had just barely begun to scab were ripped open at once. As the two of them stared at each other, those sick, twisted, scorching, humiliating memories flooded his mind.
Xie Qingcheng wanted to act as though he hadn't seen He Yu. But the young man seemed to have come here on purpose to add insult to injury. Leaning against the railing with his hands in his pockets, he stared at Xie Qingcheng with an indecipherable expression and said, "You've been suspended."
Xie Qingcheng ignored him completely.
There weren't many people in the parking lot, so there was no need for He Yu to pretend to be as pleasant as he had in the past. He took several steps forward.
It was only He Yu's gunshot wound and Xie Qingcheng's regard for He Jiwei that stopped him from just putting He Yu out of his goddamn misery. "Step aside," he said grimly. "You're blocking the way out of the parking lot."
He Yu didn't listen, just continued to stare at him with those almond eyes. After a while, he said quietly, "Xie Qingcheng, are you so old that you can't even hear me speaking to you?"
Xie Qingcheng's reply was vicious. "If you don't get out of my way, I'll get in the car and fucking run you over."
He Yu's gaze was relaxed as it lingered mercilessly on Xie Qingcheng's face. He suddenly smiled. "Go ahead. Do you want me to help you fasten your seatbelt?"
Xie Qingcheng was speechless. Seeing that He Yu was not planning to step aside, he stopped trying to leave. He slammed the car door shut and stalked over. All the fury and disgrace that had been gnawing away at him day and night for the past two weeks surged into his heart at once and blazed into a sea of fire in his eyes. "He Yu, let me fucking tell you: if you're having mental problems, then go find your attending physician. If your illness is too severe, then go to 600 Wanping Road and request a room. Don't strut around here like a beast in human skin."
He Yu's smile stiffened slightly. Then he turned to the side and pressed his lips against Xie Qingcheng's ear. "Xie Qingcheng, let me tell you that I don't have an attending physician right now. I did have one in the past, though. I trusted him, and he deceived me." Xie Qingcheng didn't respond, so He Yu continued, "Also, you'd better lower your voice when you speak to me. After all, very few people know that I'm a beast." He turned his face, tilted his head, and dropped his voice, barely exposing his little canines as he spoke. "As things stand, your reputation's been tarnished, while I'm still well-regarded. If you criticize me, people will just assume that you're the one at fault. You've already fallen so far, so don't cause more trouble for yourself, okay?"
If there had been any bystanders, they would have just thought that these two had a close relationship—that the student was simply telling Professor Xie some secret between men. They wouldn't notice the currents roiling beneath the surface.
When he finished speaking, He Yu lifted a hand and patted Xie Qingcheng on the face.
That was taking it too far.
Since that night at the club, Xie Qingcheng had developed a particular aversion for physical contact with He Yu. It felt like he'd been struck by a hundred thousand volts of electricity, sending his fight-or-flight response into overdrive—his face blanched pale as snow as he flung off He Yu's hand. "What exactly do you want?"
What exactly did he want?
To tell the truth, He Yu didn't know either. His heart felt hot, and so did his body. His bewilderment had nothing to do with what he thought of Xie Qingcheng as a person, or the things he'd read online.
The real reason he had dredged up the courage to come find Xie Qingcheng today as if nothing had happened was something else…
Since opening Pandora's Box a few nights ago in an irritated and impetuous rush and doing certain unspeakable things while he looked at Xie Qingcheng's photos on his phone…it seemed he was addicted.
Even though he knew he shouldn't, even though he was disgusted by it, he couldn't help but stare at those photos of Xie Qingcheng every morning and evening. There were even times he woke up in the middle of the night—thinking of everything that had happened that night, he'd vented the passion that was driving him to the brink of madness.
It had been several days now. He couldn't stop. In the end, He Yu blamed his ridiculous actions on a normal biological response.
He was a proud person and liked cleanliness, refusing to dirty his hands with the filthy relationships between men and women. Although he won the affections of both men and women at school, and he received enough love letters each year that he could have made a profit selling them to scrap collectors, he'd never been interested in pursuing those kinds of relations before.
But he was at an age when his hormones were at their most energetic, so it was perfectly normal to wallow in it once he'd had a taste. It was simply too pleasurable.
He thought, This is just a male's instinctive desire. Through a strange combination of circumstances, he'd happened to unleash his natural instincts onto Xie Qingcheng. It was only natural for him to associate Xie Qingcheng with this pleasure that threatened to drown him.
He still thought homosexuals were disgusting, of course. However, in the face of Xie Qingcheng's acerbic interrogation, it was difficult for He Yu to explain why exactly he'd run over here to kick him while he was down as soon as he heard about the suspension.
Was there any need for him to waste his time like this on a passerby he'd already blocked?
He Yu had originally come to see Xie Qingcheng because he couldn't keep himself away any longer, but now, under those cold, incisive peach blossom eyes, he began to feel extremely embarrassed. This embarrassment made him moody and unkind, and he racked his brain for some reason he could strike back with. In the end, he just barely managed to pull out an excuse that sounded halfway reasonable.
"…Hm, let me think," he said nonchalantly. "Maybe it's because I heard that you're unemployed right now and would like to hire you again?"
"He Yu, have you gone fucking blind, or is there something wrong with your head?" Xie Qingcheng's voice was even more menacing than He Yu's. "I haven't lost my job."
The youth gazed at him calmly, his other intentions completely indiscernible on his face. "But who knows how long your leave of absence will last. Do you plan on living on minimum wage?"
"It's none of your business, even if I'm living on disability allowance."
He Yu smiled. "Professor Xie, it's true that there is no personal relationship between us. But I thought it over and, even though you're pretty irritating, your medical skills can't be denied. It's not a problem for me to employ you—you could say that I'm making use of the useless."
"Back then, I resigned of my own volition," said Xie Qingcheng. "Which neuron of yours is misfiring for you to think that I'd go back to being your doctor?"
"Ah, it seems you've misunderstood." He Yu looked as gentle and refined as ever, but every word he spoke made his face seem all the more punchable. "I'm afraid you don't have the honor of being my doctor yet. But the facility that took in Zhuang Zhiqiang—they can offer you a position, if you're interested."
He Yu's expression was blandly indifferent. Looking at his face, no one would believe the impossibly outrageous things he'd done on his dorm room bed while looking at a few photos of Xie Qingcheng.
He paused before adding shamelessly, "Consider it reparations for the time I impulsively violated you back at the club."
Xie Qingcheng instantly flew into a rage, his face contorting in a dangerous scowl. "Who the hell do you think you are? What reparations—"
"That night…"
"Did something happen that night? Nothing happened."
At these words, silence fell.
Originally, He Yu had wanted to gloss over that night as well. After all, he didn't plan on continuing this perverse relationship with Xie Qingcheng, nor did he have any intention of admitting that he'd lost his virginity with a man. But now that Xie Qingcheng was the first to deny it, it made him mad. He slowly narrowed his eyes, finally showing a hint of anger, and his hand shot out, pinning Xie Qingcheng between himself and the car. "Xie Qingcheng, do you have Alzheimer's?"
"You're the one who's got fucking Parkinson's!"
This verbal lashing made He Yu's expression darken further. "Professor Xie, the cost of living in Huzhou is so high—if I recall correctly, your previous salary just barely covered your monthly expenses, right? You still need to buy books and files, pay out of pocket to do research, and save up for Xie Xue's dowry. On the off chance that Xie Xue ends up with a fuerdai in the future, the amount you'll need to appease his family will be…let me see…"
After quietly crunching numbers for a while, He Yu raised his calm and yet nearly pitying black eyes to Xie Qingcheng. "It seems you'd have to work without any breaks from the Qin dynasty until the year 2200."
Xie Qingcheng didn't humor him with a response, so He Yu continued, "Frankly speaking, it's no big deal if you come to me in your time of need." His voice lowered further as he whispered into Xie Qingcheng's ear at a volume only they could hear. "I've thought it over in the past few days. If nothing else, I fucked you—even though you were neither the first nor the best, I fucked you so many times that night, you more or less count as mine now. It's only natural for me to take some responsibility."
Xie Qingcheng was about to lose it. He Yu was treating him like a woman—it made him so furious he nearly abandoned all reason. For a moment, he seriously wanted to kill He Yu. Forget about He Jiwei, the bullet wound, the past… He didn't care about any of that anymore; he just wanted He Yu dead.
When He Yu met his eyes, he saw his feelings clearly and unmistakably. But there was also a vague notion—
He could tell that Xie Qingcheng wanted to tear out his throat, to kill him with a single bite. But buried in that nearly cannibalistic fury was a hint of some other emotion…
However, it disappeared in a flash, and He Yu didn't get the chance to see it clearly.
In the end, it seemed to be that thread of emotion that Xie Qingcheng used to forcibly suppress his hatred. "He Yu," he snapped, his voice terribly hoarse, "Don't make me laugh. I might have been drunk, but I still remember your performance that night. You've slept with many people? Don't fucking flatter yourself. You think that you're the only person I've slept with—that I don't know better, that I can't tell? Is that it? Just who's the inexperienced one here? You really think you can fool me?"
He Yu's face turned ashen. "I have slept with people," he said darkly. "Loads of them."
"Then you really are a fucking homicidal maniac. Did none of your previous partners tell you your technique is lethally awful?"
This was a fatal blow for a young virgin man.
He Yu knew that his technique couldn't possibly be good, but the worse he was, the more he needed to pretend, and the less he wanted to hear others talk about it. He immediately exploded, grabbing Xie Qingcheng and shoving him against the car. "My technique is bad?" he asked, red-eyed. "I made you come four times that night, and you dare to say my technique is bad?"
"Have some fucking self-respect." Enduring the physical discomfort racking his body, Xie Qingcheng patted He Yu on the cheek. "You know perfectly well what happened that night; there's no need for me to remind you. A dog in heat couldn't have performed worse."
He Yu looked as though he wanted to break all the bones in Xie Qingcheng's body. "So," he ground out word by word, "that was an oversight that night, huh, not getting a dog in there for you? That was my failure in hospitality?"
Xie Qingcheng gave him a vicious push, unwilling to continue this entanglement. "Get lost." When He Yu didn't respond, Xie Qingcheng repeated, "Scram."
This time, He Yu's fury turned into mocking laughter. "Xie Qingcheng."
Xie Qingcheng looked askance.
"Don't be so emotional. You should consider what I said. Right now, there's no one else in all of Huzhou who will take you in."
Xie Qingcheng whipped his head around, his expression abnormally icy. "Listen to me: I wouldn't need your compassion even if I were starving to death."
"Then what are you going to do?" asked He Yu, looking down at the miserable man with unmatched ridicule and resentment. "Curl up in your shitty hovel and eat instant ramen all day?"
But just then, a furious voice rang out from behind him, and without warning, something heavy slammed into the back of his head. "Why don't you go and die, He Yu! Nutcase!"
He Yu was struck senseless with pain. As it turned out, he had been hit by the weight of a woman's wedge-heeled shoe. With an overcast expression, He Yu turned to see Xie Xue storming over.
Both he and Xie Qingcheng started in shock.
For a moment, Xie Qingcheng's face turned extremely pale. He Yu's complexion wasn't much better either. No matter how much they detested each other in private, they had no plans to air their dirty laundry in public, and especially not with those close to them.
But as Xie Xue approached and they saw her expression, furious but not quite astonished, they realized that either she must have just arrived on the scene, or perhaps He Yu had subconsciously lowered his voice when uttering those disgusting vulgarities, so she hadn't overheard much of his conversation with Xie Qingcheng.
However, what little she'd heard was already more than enough to infuriate her.
"Shitty hovel? There's no one else in the whole of Huzhou who will take you in?" If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed that He Yu could be so beastly, that he was capable of saying such things—much less that his interactions with her brother could be so uncouth.
She was already heartbroken over Xie Qingcheng's recent suffering, so her gege-apologist instincts were on high alert. Seeing that even He Yu had changed his attitude toward Xie Qingcheng, going so far as to figuratively kick him when he was down, she couldn't hold back anymore.
She yanked He Yu aside and stood in front of Xie Qingcheng with her arms outstretched, sparks practically flying from her eyes. "Don't you dare insult my brother like that!"
The sight of her all-consuming fury rendered He Yu momentarily speechless. Just who exactly did she think she was? Was it because he'd always yielded to her, protected her, and never failed to help her even if he bullied her in secret? Was that why she felt comfortable throwing her weight around with him, blissfully ignorant of the consequences?
But what if he stopped caring about her? Dealing with her would be no harder than crushing an ant. How dare she stand in front of him, hit him with things, and argue with him? It was seriously a little ridiculous, He Yu thought.
But Xie Xue was still Xie Xue. Even if many of their interactions had been nothing more than his own self-comforting delusions, she was still the person who treated him best out of all his peers. The terrible pain in his heart had faded into numbness. But even if he no longer expected anything from her, he would never actually raise a hand against her.
He looked at her with an air of near indifference, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, his derision wrapped in apathy. "Can't you recognize someone's good intentions? I'm trying to help him."
"Helping him, my ass! You're just mocking and ridiculing him! I heard everything!" Xie Xue was like a lioness with her hackles raised. With a fierceness that He Yu had never seen before, she yelled, "Why are you suddenly treating him like this? You believe those rumors, don't you? I'm telling you, He Yu! You don't need to insult my brother like this! So what if he's suspended? Our family still has me! I can support him even if he doesn't work!"
Xie Qingcheng stared at his sister's back as an indescribable emotion rose in his heart, completely lost for words. He was accustomed to being a patriarchal elder who rarely spoke a soft word to his younger sister, and he wasn't accustomed to taking the time to cherish the tender moments shared between family. But in that instant, something soft and warm stirred in his firm chest.
He Yu touched the back of his head, which was still pulsing with pain. Luckily, he wasn't bleeding. He glanced at Xie Xue with a grim expression. "And how much do you earn as a teacher-in-training? Is it even enough to buy barbecue skewers?"
"What's it to you?!" Xie Xue retorted. "There really is something wrong with you! If worse comes to worst, I'll stop eating skewers! It's not like I'll die if I never eat them again! Step aside!"
Xie Qingcheng watched He Yu's expression grow increasingly malevolent as he stared at Xie Xue. He pulled her aside, but she kept cursing tempestuously at He Yu. "You think you're all that just because you've got some stinking money?! You really think you're all that, huh?! You can't do anything except humiliate people—see if I don't fail you this term! I'll deduct your daily participation points all the way down to zero! Who do you think you are, He Yu?! How did I never see what a crazy asshole you are before? Nutcase! Scumbag!"
The word "nutcase" was like kryptonite to He Yu, and it was even more hurtful coming from Xie Xue's mouth. His expression turned even colder. "I dare you, curse me out again."
But it was Xie Qingcheng who responded. "Even if she curses you a hundred times, what exactly can you do to her?" He tugged Xie Xue behind him and stared He Yu down. His voice wasn't loud, but his tone was cold and unyielding. "With me here, what can you do to her, He Yu? Why don't you fucking try me—if I don't kill you today, I'll take your surname."
Silence fell.
"Remember this: I have no parents, no wife, and no children right now, and I don't give a shit about my reputation either. Xie Xue is all I have. I don't care about anything else. So if you dare touch a single hair on her head, I'll kill you."
As He Yu stood in silence, Xie Qingcheng spent some time pacifying the girl, but his eyes remained fixed on the youth before him.
"Get in the car, Xie Xue," Xie Qingcheng told her.
Xie Xue was still incandescent with rage and refused to let things lie. "He Yu, you fucking—"
"Don't be vulgar. Get in the car."
In the end, Xie Xue was forcibly shoved into the car. Xie Qingcheng slammed the passenger side door shut, then shot He Yu a sharp glare before he rolled his eyes and sidestepped him to get to the driver's side of the car.
However, when he passed He Yu, the youth suddenly grabbed him by the wrist. "Xie Qingcheng, you…"
"I'll say it one last time." Xie Qingcheng bit out each word with utmost clarity. "Get out of my sight. Now." With that, he flung off He Yu's hand and swept into the car, slamming the horn and emitting a long, ear-piercing honk.
He Yu stood beyond the car window with a dark expression on his face, his eyes downcast as he looked at the passengers within. His lips moved, as if he was saying something.
Xie Xue wanted to lower her window and rail at He Yu again, but Xie Qingcheng stopped her. "Don't bother." His eyes were terrifyingly cold. He looked away from He Yu. "Let's go home."