The White Moonlight Stole Away the Little Substitute

Chapter 5

Lu Qi had an emoticon saved to his mobile phone.

Two cartoon characters were having a conversation, and a dialogue box appeared above one’s head. He said to the other character: I like your works so much.

Then the other character took the dialogue box and held it in his arms while sleeping.

During the holiday when Lu Qi’s parents discovered he was gay, he was gradually healed by the love of his fans. This emoticon was his state during that time.

Lu Qi also knew that love on the internet was unreliable and could be overthrown in the blink of an eye, but when he was really maliciously attacked by so many strangers, he still inevitably felt depressed.

Like a little mushroom that withered and drooped after being beaten by the wind and rain.

He posted a screenshot of his WeChat retrieval interface on Weibo, as well as the receipt of the case from the police station. Ordinary people would inevitably be at a loss when confronting a behemoth like capital, but Lu Qi still believed in the fairness of law, and at least the hot search had been removed.

It was just that it would take some time to wait for the results, and netizens who were instigated by trolls and didn’t know the truth had already turned his comments area into a mess.

[Whoever calls the police first is innocent, is that it?]

. . .

[Aiyo, the last person who said their account was hacked was that university professor who harassed first-year students. Do perverts like you share the same brain?]

. . .

[You actually called the police. You won’t be slapped in the face, right? (covers face while laughing)]

. . .

[The victim even sent you a WeChat code, but you self-destructed here and even made bogus accusations. Tsk, tsk, you are really thick-skinned]

Lu Qi even received private messages threatening his personal safety.

There was no telling how many were trolls and how many were passers-by who just wanted to “do justice” without knowing the truth.

The voices of “believers” began to become inconspicuous among the doubts that flooded the screen. Lu Qi temporarily disconnected from the internet and didn’t read any online news for three days, waiting for a report from the police.

On the fourth day, he was dug out of his nest by his cousin, Li Yimiao.

His cousin—a bright and savory little 0 from head to foot. He hooked Lu Qi’s neck and almost knocked him down.

“Ge! Don’t listen to those old dogs farting on the internet. What kind of man can’t you find? Would you still go harass that rotten man who looks like he has a kidney deficiency?[1] Li Yimiao said: “Let’s go! I’ll take you to have fun! Let’s find a man!”

Lu Qi had still been sleeping before opening the door for him. His hair was stuck in bunches here and there, and there was a red mark on his cheek. He stared blankly at his cousin, who was looking through his clothes in the closet.

He calmed down after a while and hugged the clothes his cousin gave him, rubbing his eyes as he said: “It’s better not to go. I still have......”

He paused.

What else was there? The last Party A canceled their order, his private messages were full of malicious design invitations, and there was no response to a business proposal that was being discussed.

There was nothing that could be done.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Li Yimiao pushed him into the bathroom. “It’s time to go out and have fun, why are you growing mushrooms at home? What a waste of your face, ah. Ge, if I looked like you, I would switch men three times a year.”

Lu Qi’s muffled voice sounded from the bathroom, very low: “Why three.....can’t there be just one?”

“Ge, do you still have this ambition?” Li Yimiao touched his chin and thought about how his Ge looked just now.

Like a sleepy little rabbit being taken out of its nest, its eyes red, sweet and soft, making people want to pet it.

He burst out laughing, holding onto the bathroom door as he guffawed. “Ge, just think about it. Today, Didi will take you to see the world and realize how sought-after you are. Those who scold you on the internet are just idiots.”

In the real world, few people who knew Lu Qi disliked him. Li Yimiao had never met a person as good as Lu Qi. He was charming and good-looking, had a gentle temperament, and always considered the other person’s feelings first in everything.

He didn’t have much contact with his cousin before junior high school. Lu Qi was what parents called a typical example of a standard that could not be met by others. He started participating in stray cat rescue in junior high, donated part of his living expenses to primary school students living in impoverished rural areas, and had outstanding academic performance. After hearing many times about how outstanding his cousin was, he began to instinctively hate that name. After all, this was the legendary “other people’s outstanding child.”

He felt that this cousin, whom he had only met a few times, was a temperless bleeding heart.

It wasn’t until Li Yumiao’s parents discovered his sexual orientation and several “educational” sessions failed that on the way to school, he was stopped by several burly men and dragged into a van.

He had long overheard his parents talk about it. They planned to send him to some institute for “treatment.” When most of his body was stuffed into the vehicle, he was completely desperate.

But Lu Qi appeared on a small electric eMule, like a beam of light piercing through heavy clouds. Lu Qi, who was also in his third year of high school at the time, looked neat and gentle, his skin so white that it practically glowed in the midsummer sun. Seeing his cousin being stuffed into the van, Lu Qi was stunned for a moment, then decisively rushed over on the small eMule.

Li Yimiao saw Lu Qi’s firm, bright eyes between the arms of those strong men, and then the small eMule in shopping center colors ran rampant and knocked down two men. Lu Qi reached out to grab him, and he held that slender, beautiful hand and quickly climbed onto the eMule and was led away by his cousin.

The summer sun was bright and hot, and the shadows of the trees cast mottled shadows on Lu Qi’s slightly thin shoulders and back. Li Yimiao sat behind, feeling that his hands and feet were slowly warming up.

He didn’t know if it was because of the sunshine or because of his cousin.

Later, he dropped out of school to work and escaped from that suffocating home, and Lu Qi would help him every month. Li Yimiao couldn’t understand how when it came to such a good person as his cousin, strangers who didn’t know him at all and never met him could say evil things without knowing the truth.

When the two were taking a taxi on the side of the road, Li Yimiao proudly pointed to the dark circles under his eyes: “I spent the whole night setting them straight. Fuck, I scolded them until three accounts were banned. If that kind of person were standing in front of me, I would give them a left hook, then kick them to the ground and beat them to pieces.....”

He gestured and danced, but he was not as tall as Lu Qi, and was so thin that the whole thing was total bluff and bluster. Looking at the shining water droplets at the ends of his eyes, Lu Qi finally couldn’t help but laugh.

His eyelashes cast shadows under the streetlight. His eyes were bent, and there seemed to be a forest stream reflecting the sky flowing inside.

Li Yimiao’s voice stopped suddenly, and he murmured after a moment: “Ge.....why are your eyes so good-looking.....”

“You’re good-looking too.” Lu Qi pulled him into the car. “I’ll just find a corner to sit in for a while. You go play by yourself and don’t worry about me. I just want to sit in a place with people for a while.”

He had also recorded the phone call to that dog Lin Yuan. It was a pity that Lin Yuan did not directly admit to hacking the account, so it couldn’t be used as direct evidence. This time, he had learned his lesson, and made his position clear when he opened his mouth: “There won’t be a next time for sure!!!”

Fearing that the recording wouldn’t be clear, he was straightforward and decisive, like a child promising to his kindergarten teacher that he wouldn’t make any more mistakes.

The man: ......

If there wouldn’t be, there wouldn’t be. It wasn’t like this entertainment reporter needed to suddenly express his determination and try to scare him.

He stood up, his eyes cold and narrow: “The deposit is non-refundable, and there is no need for a person like you who has no credibility to be in this business anymore.”

Lu Qi almost laughed. Then thank you very much, are you quite proud?

Well, he did have the capital to be proud. His face, waist, and legs were all very expensive.

The other party had already said the word “deposit,” Lu Qi cautiously and prudently started fishing on behalf of law enforcement: “I can give you the balance, but I’m a little tired today and I don’t want to have sexual relations with you. However, I can’t spend money in vain. How about you.....be my model and let me draw your figure?”

He would normally be too embarrassed to say the words “sexual relations,” but his phone was recording, so he had to speak clearly and keep the little duck still. He was about to send a text message to the police.

The other person continued to stare at him. His eyes turned from cold to blank, then cleared bit by bit and finally turned into a natural smile. Unfortunately, the smile did not reach the bottom of his eyes, which were as bone-chilling as two knives flashing toward him.

Lu Qi didn’t take the opportunity to send the message.

The man didn’t speak for a long moment.

From the angle at which he was looking down, the neat young man sat with his head down, his long eyelashes fluttering like the wings of butterflies.

He was obviously a little panicked, but pretending to be calm. It was a little cute.

The annoyance of being mistaken for a duck was halfway suppressed, and he couldn’t help but think, could there be such a coincidence? That duck was also called “Lion?”

What quality. Using the same name as him.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to resolve this, he heard Lu Qi say softly: “That.....you also have to take off your clothes anyway to provide services. Being a model means you don’t have to move, and you’ll save energy, right?”

“......” The man smiled like a fox with a full belly teasing a rabbit. “I’m at your service, so of course I’ll strive to satisfy you. How far should I remove my clothing? Can I leave my underwear on? Or.....”

With a smile in his voice, he said: “Total nudity?”

He said these two words in standard English, and the last note was slightly hoarse, ticklish to the ear.

When speaking of this, Lu Qi considered it seriously. “You can wear underwear.”

“Then.....thank you.” He suppressed a smile, and saw from the corner of his eye a man stand up in the opposite booth and look around. He was wearing a high imitation burgundy shirt of the same style.

“Tsk.” The man frowned and glanced sideways at Lu Qi.

The boy’s profile looked as white as handcrafted porcelain under the dim lights of the bar.

How could he dare ask for money for that kind of thing? Who should be giving money to whom?

But Lu Qi didn’t see the other burgundy shirt, and was still thinking about when to call the police when he saw the man next to him suddenly turn sideways, as if he was about to leave.

Was he getting suspicious?

Lu Qi took a deep breath and tried his best to act like an experienced customer. He grabbed the man’s slender hand and rubbed it ambiguously twice.

“Ch.....charge some interest.”

Under his gaze, the little duck suddenly laughed wantonly.

Lu Qi was baffled.

Then the man bent down and rubbed his head, turned around, and left.

Lu Qi: Ahhhh!!

His chance to get leniency for himself ran away!!

Where was Li Yimiao, that abominable legal illiterate?!

. . . . . . .

When he came out the back door of the bar, the assistant waiting outside lowered his head and stepped forward to put a coat on the man. He waited for a moment, but the boss didn’t move. He looked up doubtfully and saw that the boss was in a good mood with his lips curved up, that flawless face pleased as punch.

The assistant: ? ? ?

It was clear that the other party had gotten the address wrong, and the boss’s trip was in vain, but he still seemed to be in a good mood?

He asked in a low voice: “Mr. Mu, do you still plan to look for that reporter?”

“I do.” Mu Nanqiao touched the back of his hand. There were still a few red marks on it. That little friend had rubbed it very hard.

“I’ll sell the news so that it gets out before the Dragon Boat Festival.....” He smiled. “Best wishes to my dear uncle for the festival.

The assistant followed two steps, but the boss paused again.

The assistant: “Mr. Mu?”

Mu Nanqiao thought for a moment, then turned to the side and tapped the back door of the bar. “There’s a duck named “Lion” in there. Find him and tell him to change his name, then get out of Chongxin District and do business elsewhere.”

The assistant: ? ? ?

[1] Kidney deficiency commonly means not being able to “get it up.” ⮐