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If looks could kill, Mai Ding would have been dead. She was An Su, An Ziyan"s older sister. Mai Ding was dragged back into the house. An Ziyan was still sitting on his couch, looking as if he had expected it.
 
“Aren"t you going to explain to me what the h.e.l.l is going on?” An Su barked.
 
“What"s there to explain? Didn"t you see enough?” An Ziyan said calmly.
 
“What kind of att.i.tude is this? How are you going to explain this to Xiaosi? If it had been another woman, fine. But you actually cheated on her with another man? What if dad and mom find out? You are just sending them to their graves earlier! Don"t you think that this is a joke that has been carried too far?” The ever-critical elder sister.
 
Mai Ding was standing in one corner. He was feeling so awkward. He never expected An Ziyan"s family members to find out about their relationship so soon. He didn"t know what to do. He has never felt so helpless before.
 
“Who said that this was just a joke on my part?” An Ziyan reb.u.t.ted coldly.
 
Even though these words may have suggested how much he loved Mai Ding, it wasn"t the time to be touching. Mai Ding was trying to use his eyes to tell An Ziyan that he shouldn"t go against his sister too much. Mai Ding always preferred a less confrontational approach. He believed that the best way out of a problem was to talk it through peacefully. Such animosity was not going to reap results.
 
“Are you f.u.c.king blind?” An Su said, pointing at Mai Ding. “Look carefully. This is a freaking guy! What"s so good about him?”
 
“You don"t have to remind me that he"s a guy.”
 
Seeing how her brother was not responding to her advice made her even angrier. She turned to Mai Ding: her next target. “I really wonder what you did to my brother to make him fall for you. But let me tell you, if you are here for our family"s money, you can forget about it!”
 
Mai Ding didn"t expect to be scolded. “I do not want to know what you think of me. And honestly I can"t control that. But please do not insult my love for An Ziyan by insinuating that I am in it for the money.”
 
“Your love? Please. Don"t make me laugh. What love can two guys have? Don"t disgust me.” An Su was infuriated. She was about to raise her hand to give Mai Ding a tight slap, but fortunately her hand was caught by An Ziyan.
 
“Don"t make me angry.” he warned.
 
“You are actually going to turn against me just because of this lousy guy?”
 
“Are you still going to continue?” An Ziyan threatened. “Please leave. Stop creating such a disturbance at my place.”
 
“A disturbance, you say? Aren"t you the least bit afraid that I will let dad and mom know?”
 
“That would save me a lot of effort.”
 
“You!” An Su was at a loss of words. She didn"t know how else to persuade her errant brother. It"s not that she was an extremely conservative woman. It wasn"t also because she was a h.o.m.ophobe. If it had been another couple, she would have been OK. But it was her own brother. She couldn"t accept it. She just couldn"t understand. Wasn"t he happy with Bai Xiaosi? Wasn"t he straight? Why is he gay all of a sudden?
 
Both parties refused to budge. An Ziyan knew that he had to make the first move. An Su was a person who responded well when treated properly. “It"s getting late. Come, let me send you back. It"s my business after all. I"ll handle this.”
 
An Su was somewhat appeased. She nodded, but she refused to let this matter rest to some extent. Turning to Mai Ding, she hissed, “I"ll never allow the both of you to be together.”
 
An Ziyan looked at Mai Ding. “Wait for me to come back.”
 
Mai Ding nodded. That"s all he could do.
 
When both brother and sister left the house, Mai Ding could finally relax. He collapsed on the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling for some time. He felt a little hurt but he didn"t know why. There was nothing to be worried about, no reason to be hurt. The only thing that left a mark on him was An Su"s glare before she left. She was h.e.l.l bent on breaking the two of them apart. Sigh. Which family member would accept such things in the first place? Mai Ding felt he couldn"t blame An Su. But he also loved An Ziyan. The only thing he could blame was the society he was in, a society that labels such love as a great sin.
 
Time was ticking away. Unknown to Mai Ding, Christmas Day was over. Dispiritedly, he walked to his new theatre room, put on a DVD and waited for the love of his life to return home.
 
After some time, Mai Ding heard someone coming in through the door. It was An Ziyan. An Ziyan saw that no one was in the living room and proceeded to the guest room instead, now a theatrette for his love.
 
“You waited long?” he asked in an extremely concerned way.
Mai Ding shook his head. “I"ll prepare something to eat. You must be hungry.”
 
While eating their late dinner, An Ziyan said, “Don"t take what An Su said to heart.”
 
“I know. I"m not angry with her. I"m a guy after all. It"s only gentlemanly to let it go. But I"m worried that she might break us up.”
 
“She doesn"t have that ability.”
 
* * *
The next day, Mai Ding was rushing to cla.s.s, afraid that he was going to be late. When he reached his dorm room, he found Li Ming still asleep. He s.n.a.t.c.hed Li Ming"s blanket from him and the cold draught woke Li Ming up.
 
“Wake up! Aren"t you going for lessons?”
 
Li Ming sighed. “I was up all night with this girl. Can you just tell the lecturer that I"m not coming in today?”
 
“A girl? You have a girlfriend now? Anyway, I brought some breakfast for you. Eat this quickly and join me for cla.s.s. As a student, if you don"t go for your cla.s.ses, then what are you here for?”
 
Li Ming wriggled out of bed reluctantly. He studied Mai Ding"s expression and knew something must have happened. “Ok. What happened now?”
 
Mai Ding was shocked. Why is it that Li Ming knew him so well? “What do you mean? I"m feeling just fine.”
 
“Drop the act. I can even tell if you need to pee.”
 
Mai Ding rolled his eyes. But he relented. He recounted what had happened to Li Ming. After all, he already knew what was going on between him and An Ziyan. He was trustworthy enough.
 
“What? You are affected because of this?” Li Ming asked incredulously. “You do know that by virtue of your choice you should antic.i.p.ate such an outcome, right? It"s not only going to be his sister. Virtually anyone may do that. If you can"t even take this, you should just forget about this whole relationship. Loving someone is never easy. You experienced the good, but are you ready for the bad?”
 
Mai Ding understood what Liming was trying to say. And to some extent, it had cleared his mind. He was right. He couldn"t let go of this relationship now. What kind of commitment would that be? If he did not persevere today, the wonders of tomorrow would be lost.
 
As days pa.s.sed, things went back to normal. It was lunch hour, and Mai Ding received a text from An Ziyan:
 
An Ziyan: Are you free this afternoon?
Mai Ding: Just one period of cla.s.s in the afternoon. I"m done after that.
An Ziyan: Drop by my house after that. There"s something I want to share with you.
Mai Ding: Sure.
 
He wondered why An Ziyan was so secretive about it. What did he want to share? Was it a surprise? As usual, Mai Ding always thought a lot about these matters.
After he was done with his last lesson, Mai Ding, after telling Li Ming where he was going, left the campus to meet An Ziyan.
 
When he reached the house, the house was empty. No one was in the living room. He immediately thought that An Ziyan was showering, and so proceeded to the bathroom. The door to the bathroom was open. Thinking he was inside, he walked towards the bathroom, saying, "An Ziyan. Why the rush? Did you get me here to play hide-and-seek with you? Isn"t this a bit childish?"
 
The door to the bedroom closed suddenly. Turning back, Mai Ding saw An Su standing at the doorway in a bathrobe.
 
"Why-why are you here?"
 
"Who else could it be? Don"t be afraid. I apologise for my bad behavior the last time. I just couldn"t control my emotions. Your name is Mai Ding, right? Do you think I"m pretty?"
 
This startled Mai Ding. He knew something was amiss. "Yes, you are pretty." he replied, honestly.
"So, what shall we do now?" Saying this, she undid her bathrobe and let it fall to the floor, standing before Mai Ding all in the nude.
 
"You are a bottom, right? What"s so good about that? You should be with a woman. You will feel a kind of pleasure that you have never experienced before."
 
She was advancing towards Mai Ding.
 
Mai Ding tried to avert his gaze. He was blushing, yet was afraid. "You look like you have never tried a real woman. Why don"t you give it a try? I believe you will like it." An Su said confidently. She had the looks and the body to justify that confidence.
 
Was An Su expecting a reaction from Mai Ding? Did she expect him to spring an erection? Don"t even talk about an erection. Because of this scare, Mai Ding "little brother" nearly shrunk into his tummy!
 
Mai Ding was wondering how he was ever going to get out of this.
 
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To be continued...