Chapter 18 – Caught in the Act

Sitting in the passenger seat with the box in his arms, Bai Mu Ning began brainstorming. How could he explain things in a way that would preserve his image?

Even though he hadn’t left a great impression on Wen Jing, he still wanted to salvage things.

Wen Jing hadn’t said much just now, only that he’d drive him back to school. He hadn’t voiced any displeasure, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking it.

Bai Mu Ning felt he ought to try to defend himself, both for the sake of his precarious face and the little dignity he had left.

However, he hadn’t thought about how to say it, and needed to rethink his words.

In the midst of his thoughts, he stole a glance at Wen Jing. Wen Jing was focused on driving.

He gripped the steering wheel with one hand, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Bai Mu Ning’s gaze fell on Wen Jing’s hand which was slender, fair, with distinct knuckles. 

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Bai Mu Ning quickly shook his head, pressed his lips together, and stayed quiet. With his ears burning red, he looked down and caught sight of the pleated miniskirt, then furrowed his brow and said, “Dr. Wen, this actually isn’t mine. I bought it for my baby.”

Yes, that was the excuse. Absolutely not his skirt, but one that belonged to some baby who was conveniently nowhere to be found.

The car slowly came to a stop; they had arrived at the school. Wen Jing turned slightly, the corners of his lips lifting in a smile. “Your baby had a strong, clear voice, and a pretty slim waist.”

“…?”

Your focus is on the waistline?

Pervert!!!

–

Early Friday morning, Bai Mu Ning sat in bed spacing out right after waking up. He didn’t have work today, but he did have a blind date to attend on someone else’s behalf.

Li Anche had already left for work, and the dorm was empty except for him.

After a bit of struggle and deep reluctance, Bai Mu Ning finally dragged himself to the bathroom to wash up. When he got back, he started figuring out how to wear the skirt.

A pink plaid pleated miniskirt, paired with a white dress shirt and a pink tie. There was also a white knitted cardigan, and the client had thoughtfully bought him nude-colored leggings to go with it.

Fortunately. If he had to go bare-legged in this weather, wouldn’t he freeze to death?

He put everything on piece by piece, and suddenly, Bai Mu Ning had a moment of deep reflection. Money was hard to earn, and eating shit was just as miserable. All this for a thousand yuan, he was really giving it his all.

The shoulder-length wig came with a black beret attached; Bai Mu Ning just had to put it on like a cap. He looked in the mirror. Thankfully, he didn’t look bad. If he had, he would’ve refused to go no matter what.

He spun around in front of the mirror, admiring himself, and even threw a wink. “Which family’s youthful and beautiful girl is this, so pretty.”

As the words fell, Bai Mu Ning was disgusted by himself.

When he was about to head out, Bai Mu Ning pulled on a pair of sweatpants over the skirt and wrapped himself up in a thick puffer jacket. Hood pulled down, mask on.

Determined not to be recognized as a pervert, Bai Mu Ning head out with his backpack.

Bai Mu Ning arrived at the agreed café and headed to the restroom to tidy himself up before coming out.

The first man he was set up with was shorter than him and had a sleazy, unattractive look. The moment he saw Bai Mu Ning, he started cracking dirty jokes. “Why didn’t you bring your grandma along?”

At first, Bai Mu Ning didn’t get it, until he noticed the sleazy man staring at his chest. That’s when he realized “grandma” wasn’t referring to a person, but to a certain amount of flesh on his body.

Bai Mu Ning was a man—naturally, he was flat-chested. What extra flesh could there possibly be?

Instead of getting angry, Bai Mu Ning laughed, confusing the sleazy guy. “What are you laughing at?”

“Well, what about you? Why didn’t you bring your little brother along?” Bai Mu Ning stood up, placing both hands on the table. He glanced at the sleazy man’s crotch and smirked, “Oh, looks like you brought it, but might as well have not.”

Sharp and straight to the point, the sleazy man left in a huff.

The second guy wasn’t sleazy, just a Puxin man¹Men that are overly confident over nothing. but inexplicably confident.

The first thing he said to Bai Mu Ning was, “If I marry you, how much of a dowry do you plan to give me?”

“…?”

Bai Mu Ning had the urge to spit coffee in his face, but held back once he thought that coffee wasn’t cheap unfortunately.

Puxin man clearly couldn’t read a room and kept rambling on. “Your chest is a bit flat, but it’s fine since you earn a lot. After marriage, you can get breast implants, preferably go up to an F. I like them big, something with a good feel.”

“And do you always dress so 2D? You’re in your 30s and a company CEO, isn’t this kind of outfit too childish? I suggest switching to business attire, a sexy pencil skirt with black stockings would be perfect.”

Bai Mu Ning had heard enough. He motioned for the guy to shut up and said, “With a face like yours, you’re expecting a dowry? What, trying to live off someone else? But it doesn’t seem like you’ve got the goods for that.”

“My body and clothing are entirely up to my mood. Who the hell are you to tell me what to wear?”

After driving off four blind date candidates in a row, Bai Mu Ning sat in his chair, sulking.

What was with the quality on that dating site? Was there not a single normal person?

How did all these weirdos get together? They were a disgrace to the male community.

For the first time, Bai Mu Ning felt ashamed of being male. Just who was supposed to clean up these oily messes parading as people?

Soon, the fifth one arrived. This one looked decent. He started with an introduction: “Hello, I’m Wu Fan. Nice to meet you.”

Wu Fan wore a black cashmere coat over a white turtleneck sweater, giving off a mature and steady vibe. His appearance was clean and fresh, far from greasy, he looked every bit the elite professional type.

Bai Mu Ning lowered his head to glance at the profile. Wasn’t the fifth guy supposed to be surnamed Zhou?

Wu Fan smiled and said, “No need to look, I’m here on someone else’s behalf, doing a favor for a friend.”

“My friend was urged to get married by his family but doesn’t want to settle, so he asked me to come and handle it.”

Bai Mu Ning let out an “oh” and set the profile down.

“Are you also here standing in for someone else?”

Bai Mu Ning froze. How had he given himself away?

Wu Fan tilted his head slightly and pointed at his own Adam’s apple. “It’s kinda obvious here.”

Bai Mu Ning grew a little nervous. He’d already been found out, what was he supposed to say now?

Still, the man in front of him clearly had sharp eyes and a brain to match. Much more perceptive than the previous four, who hadn’t even noticed he was a guy.

Bai Mu Ning pressed his lips together tightly, watching him warily. Wu Fan smiled and said, “Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought, if you’re also here on someone else’s behalf, why don’t we pass the time together? It’s exhausting to keep swapping people out.”

Bai Mu Ning couldn’t be bothered to deal with anyone else, and figured it wasn’t so bad to just go along with someone who was also standing in for someone else.

His employer only told him to pass the time, there was no rule about how many dates he had to go on.

“Alright then.”

Wu Fan asked, “Do you want some mousse cake? Skip the coffee, how about some orange juice? My treat.”

Bai Mu Ning’s eyes lit up and he smiled. “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?”

He’d been sitting here all morning and was already starving. Out of all the blind dates, Wu Fan was the first gentleman who thought to ask if his date was hungry.

Bonus points.

“I should be the one thanking you for playing along. Otherwise, this whole thing would’ve been a headache.” Wu Fan’s smile was gentle, and he spoke at an unhurried pace, with a warm, easygoing tone.

More bonus points.

While eating cake, Bai Mu Ning asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you? Are you single?”

Wu Fan paused a moment. “I’m single. 30.”

“Then would you consider getting a girlfriend? My employer’s a female CEO, very beautiful and stylish. Would you like to meet her?”

Good men were hard to come by. Now that he’d finally found one, Bai Mu Ning wanted to introduce him to his employer.

It wasn’t that his employer didn’t want to fall in love, she just couldn’t find someone reliable. But right here in front of him was a perfectly reliable one.

Most importantly, he was handsome, polite, and gentlemanly, so much better than all those other blind dates.

Wu Fan quickly waved his hands and confessed, “Sorry, I like men.”

Bai Mu Ning was caught off guard. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“It’s fine.”

Bai Mu Ning felt awkward and lowered his head, continuing to eat his cake. Biting his spoon, he wondered, why were all the good men being taken by other men?

Before long, his sharp ears picked up a familiar voice—low, pleasant, with a hint of laziness. “Hello, I’m Wen Jing, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor.”

Wen Jing?

Turning slightly to look forward, Bai Mu Ning noticed Wen Jing sitting a few tables away.

He was wearing a gray coat with all-black clothes underneath. No matter what he wore, he always looked good. Just sitting there, he naturally exuded presence.

Wen Jing happened to glance his way, and their eyes met. The next second, Bai Mu Ning instinctively lowered his head and quickly looked away, guilty. He silently reached into his backpack and pulled out a mask to put on.

Wu Fan asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Still keeping his head down, Bai Mu Ning replied, “Mm, I suddenly feel a bit off. It’s fine, don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay in a bit.”

Now fully armored, Bai Mu Ning occasionally sneaked peeks at Wen Jing. He wanted to be sure whether Wen Jing had recognized him or not.

He probably wouldn’t recognize him, right? He was in women’s clothing, even Bai Mu Ning had to stare at himself in the mirror for a while to confirm it was him.

Comforting himself with that thought, Bai Mu Ning gradually relaxed.

But the moment Wen Jing stood up and began walking in this direction, Bai Mu Ning’s heart, which had just settled, started pounding again.

He chanted in his mind, You can’t see me, you can’t see me, he can’t see me.

Whether it was the power of the chant or that Wen Jing really didn’t recognize him, the man walked right past him.

Bai Mu Ning let out a sigh of relief and glanced back, Wen Jing was leaving.

He took off the mask and fully relaxed. That scared the life out of him. He’d thought Wen Jing had recognized him and was about to drag him back.

Wait, that thought didn’t make any sense. Why would Wen Jing drag him back?

They didn’t have much of a relationship, just colleagues at the same workplace. It wasn’t like Wen Jing had any reason to meddle in his business.

Wu Fan asked, “Do you know that guy from earlier?”

Bai Mu Ning quickly denied it. “No, mistaken identity.”

“Oh,” Wu Fan said, taking out his phone. “Then… let’s add each other on WeChat. If there’s another blind date in the future, let me know. I wouldn’t mind setting something up for you. I actually enjoy chatting with you.”

“…?” That really wasn’t necessary.

Seeing Bai Mu Ning still hesitating, Wu Fan added, “By the way, your employer and my friend might actually be a good match. Maybe they’d hit it off. Should we try setting them up?”

Now that sounded good.

“Alright.” Bai Mu Ning took out his phone, about to scan Wu Fan’s QR code, when suddenly a hand reached out and snatched his phone away. Bai Mu Ning looked up angrily, only to see Wen Jing, who had apparently come back.

His anger froze at the corners of his mouth. For a moment, Bai Mu Ning forgot how to react.

“Still not leaving?” Wen Jing’s voice was low, as if suppressing some kind of emotion, and just hearing it made Bai Mu Ning’s heart tremble.

Startled, he let out a soft “Ah.” His brain was a mess, unable to process what those three words meant.

All he could think about was why did Wen Jing come back? And fine, he came back, but why take his phone?

Wait a minute, didn’t Wen Jing already leave?

Why was he back?

Wen Jing’s tone grew heavier as he repeated, “Still not leaving?”

Bai Mu Ning snapped out of his daze, now fully certain: Wen Jing had really come back to drag him away.

But what was he even mad about?