It all happened after Xu Li returned from studying abroad.
1.
One weekend, Xu Li and Zhang Yuze slept in until the afternoon. If the courier hadn’t knocked on the door, it might have been dark before they opened their eyes.
Sitting up groggily, Zhang Yuze glanced at the red marks littering his body, the aftermath of a certain someone’s over-enthusiastic affection last night. He groaned, clearly annoyed.
Xu Li, already halfway into his trousers, looked back with a grin. “Let’s grab something to eat and go shopping while we’re at it.”
“You’re making me lazier by the day…” Zhang Yuze muttered, rubbing his face. “If my mother ever finds out I slept in this late, she’ll kill me.”
The two of them ended up wandering around the shopping district near their home. Neither of them had much interest in actual shopping, so they spent most of their time chatting while strolling through the square outside the mall.
Ahead of them, two young women caught sight of them and froze mid-conversation, their eyes lighting up like spotlights. One nudged the other excitedly, whispering something while glancing at the pair.
Xu Li nudged Zhang Yuze with his elbow and smirked. “Hey, which one of us do you think caught their eye?”
Without missing a beat, Zhang Yuze replied: “Obviously me. Look at you, walking around like a hooligan. Who’d be interested in you?”
However, Xu Li scoffed, feigning offense. “Please. Your ice-cold face could freeze people to death. Who’d dare approach you unless they have a thing for getting the cold shoulder?”
Neither was willing to concede, so they ended up betting on who would win the hypothetical affection of the two young women. The stakes? Whoever lost would pay for dinner.
However, as they passed by the girls, they overheard their excited chatter.
“Look, those two guys are a couple! It’s the first time I’ve seen a real gay couple on the street!”
Xu Li: “…”
Zhang Yuze: “…”
Turns out, the bet wasn’t about who was more attractive. It was about who looked gayer.
“Congratulations,” Xu Li quipped, deadpan. “We both won.”
2.
Another weekend, Zhang Yuze decided to tackle the growing mess at home.
Naturally, Xu Li, the resident lazybones, had no intention of lifting a finger. But under Dr. Zhang’s stern glare and relentless nagging (plus a kind of lewd promise for the night), he begrudgingly shuffled around the room with a broom, his efforts half-hearted at best.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yuze knelt in front of the bookshelf, sorting through dusty old books and forgotten newspapers that had been left untouched for years.
Out of nowhere, Xu Li asked: “Hey, didn’t you once say you transmigrated into some weird book? Do you still have it? Let me see.”
Zhang Yuze froze mid-movement, then said: “You mean ‘The peerless little doctor forced his scum ex to repent and walk through the Crematorium’ ?”
Xu Li looked as though he’d just swallowed a fly. “What kind of ridiculous title is that?! Don’t tell me I’m the protagonist of that nonsense!”
And so, Zhang Yuze burst into uncontrollable laughter, his voice echoing throughout the room. However, when they both started searching the bookshelf for the infamous novel, they couldn’t find it. They turned the whole house upside down, but it was as if the book had vanished into thin air, as mysteriously as it had appeared.
With his hands on his hips, Xu Li declared, “Let’s be real here. If some author wrote my life, they’d have given me nothing but suffering and bad luck.”
“Yeah, you’ve been pretty unlucky.” Zhang Yuze agreed with a smirk.
“But,” Xu Li cleared his throat theatrically, a mischievous glint in his eye, “it’s all been worth it if it meant the author wrote you into my life. Even years of bad luck can’t compare to that.”
Dr. Zhang reached out and ruffled Xu Li’s hair, as one would with a particularly endearing but mischievous puppy. He didn’t say anything, but his actions spoke volumes.
…………
That night, as they lay in bed, Xu Li still couldn’t stop thinking about the mysterious book. After a while, he turned to Zhang Yuze and said, “Hey, according to that book’s storyline, shouldn’t there be a point where I’m crying, begging you to take me back with snot and tears everywhere?”
Still scrolling on his phone, Zhang Yuze responded absentmindedly: “Yeah, that’s how these stories go. It’s the classic ‘chasing-wife-to-the-crematorium’ trope.”
Xu Li blinked at him. “So… Why didn’t that happen to us?”
Without looking up, Zhang Yuze paused to think before saying, “Probably because we skipped all the melodrama. We met, you asked me to date you after two months, and the rest is history. None of that dragged-out nonsense happened.”
Hearing his answer, Xu Li grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “Wow, looks like I’m the hero who cheated the system. Being charming and skipping all the angst really saved me a lot of trouble!”
Zhang Yuze rolled his eyes and kicked him lightly. “Do you believe I’ll make you chase after me all over again if you keep this up?”
“Don’t! Don’t!” Xu Li immediately latched onto Zhang Yuze’s leg, clinging to him dramatically. “We’re married now! Legally married! You can’t do this to your lawfully wedded husband.”
Dr. Zhang sighed but couldn’t hide the smile tugging at his lips.
“Idiot,” he muttered affectionately.
3.
Comrade Zhao Xiaole had been curious for ages about one question: between Dr. Zhang and Xu Li… Who’s the top and who’s the bottom?!
It was hard to imagine either of those two stubborn individuals conceding to the other since both seemed too headstrong to back down. So, what was the truth?
At a party one evening, emboldened by a round of truth or dare and plenty of alcohol, Zhao Xiaole finally worked up the courage to ask the burning question.
However, Xu Li shrugged casually while answering: “It depends. It’s different every night.”
Zhao Xiaole blinked, utterly confused. “What does that even mean?!”
Neither Dr. Zhang nor Xu Li elaborated.
…………
Later that evening, after a shared shower, they were sitting on the edge of their bed.
Zhang Yuze glanced at Xu Li while asking, “So, are you ready to settle this?”
Xu Li leaned back lazily, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Ready whenever you are.”
“Three games out of five,” Dr. Zhang said. “No cheating.”
“Deal,” Xu Li agreed. “Winner takes all.”
After a dramatic countdown, both whipped out their phones, and the WeChat chat interface displayed… Two tiny rock-paper-scissors emojis.
After an intense battle, Dr. Zhang emerged victorious.
Xu Li dropped his head in defeat and sighed dramatically: “Fine, fine, fine! Who am I to argue with fate? I’ll justbottom for love tonight!”
And that’s what they meant by ‘it depends, it’s different every night’.
4.
Jiang Bo was having a great year. Recently promoted and enjoying newfound professional success, he decided to flaunt his accomplishments at an alumni gathering.
During the banquet, Jiang Bo couldn’t help spreading an old rumor about Dr. Zhang: “I heard Zhang Yuze is getting married. Let me tell you, he’s a homosexual, so marriage? Please. It’s nothing but a scam to fool some unsuspecting girl.”
Before he could continue, someone rolled their eyes and interrupted: “You might want to update your information. Dr. Zhang married Xu Li, his boyfriend, not a woman. What nonsense are you even spouting?”
And just like that, Jiang Bo froze mid-sentence, his confidence unraveling.
Sensing the tension, Li Chenghong smirked. “Come on, Jiang Bo, we’ve been out of school for years. Do you have nothing better to do than talk trash about Yuze?”
Flustered, Jiang Bo tried to recover. “I wasn’t talking trash! I just thought… What kind of serious relationship is that?! Isn’t Xu Li just a male nurse?!”
However, Han Jinhang snorted. “You’re a decade behind, man. Xu Li is a trained surgeon now, fresh from advanced study abroad. Get your facts straight before opening your mouth.”
Speechless, Jiang Bo scrambled for another jab. After a long pause, he finally blurted out: “Well, two men still can’t have kids!”
The table went silent.
In the end, Li Chenghong deadpanned: “Congratulations, Captain Obvious. Should we give you a medal for your groundbreaking observation and your contribution to elevating China’s birth rate?”
Han Jinhang also shook his head and muttered, “Just eat your food, Jiang Bo.”
5.
One evening, Xu Li received a call from the local police station. Hanging up, he sighed heavily.
“What did you do this time?” Zhang Yuze asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Not me,” Xu Li replied. “It’s Little Rainbow. After leaving Yanjing, he’s been hopping from scam to scam. This time, he conned the wrong person and got himself arrested. The police called me to assist in the investigation.”
“Well,” Dr. Zhang said without a shred of sympathy, “he had it coming.”
6.
One night, Xu Li and Zhang Yuze were tangled under the covers. The air was thick with passion as their kisses deepened, and hands wandered boldly. Just as things were escalating, Xu Li moved his hand lower, his intentions clear.
Dr. Zhang broke the moment by tilting his head toward the door. “Go close it. The rest of this scene isn’t fit for publishing1.”
Xu Li chuckled, pecked Dr. Zhang on the lips, and obediently got up to lock the door and turn off the lights. As he slid back into bed, Zhang Yuze reminded him: “Don’t take too long. We have dinner with my mother tomorrow.”
Xu Li chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Dr. Zhang, his mind drifting to something the Empress Dowager had once said: “One day, we’ll sit down for a formal meal together.”
Smiling, he murmured, “Do you think she was hinting that we’d eventually get married abroad?”
Dr. Zhang smirked. “My Empress Dowager will always be ten steps ahead.”
Xu Li laughed, then leaned in, losing himself in the moment and in his favorite person in the world.
- Haha, way to break the fourth wall :)) ↩︎
T.N: That’s it for Only Fools Believe in Love! Thank you all for reading this novel. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! See you next time!
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