Axolotl Translations

On Sunday, Wu Xuxu borrowed a friend’s camera specifically to take pictures of Fang Li. Yang Yuecheng from Waves Corporation also showed up. He became noticeably more excited, especially after learning that Fang Li was thinking about returning to China at the end of the year.

He trusted his instincts—he was sure this boy would become a star if he signed with their company. So, just before Fang Li went on stage, he squeezed in to reintroduce his company.

Today’s fundraiser drew an even larger crowd. Many were Chinese international students who had hurried over from campus. The moment they saw Fang Li on stage—his stunningly handsome face, striking without any makeup, enough to tug at the heart—they were instantly captivated. The band members could barely contain their excitement.

Some bold girls even approached directly, asking if their donations could get them the boy’s phone number.

Below the stage, Wu Xuxu kept snapping pictures. She planned to print them into a photo album as a gift for the band’s second anniversary.

After a performance of “Wing,” someone in the audience finally called out his name—Fang Li. It was the final fundraiser show. As he struck the last piano note, Fang Li gently brushed his fingers over the keys, reluctant to part with them.

Once Qin Weidong returned from his business trip, there likely wouldn’t be any more chances to perform like this on stage.

As he stepped down, some students immediately gathered around, asking for photos. Fang Li smiled—he hadn’t expected such a large turnout these past few days.

One shy girl, pushed forward by her friends, had actually come two days in a row. Her classmates egged her on for a photo. She told Fang Li his singing was beautiful and, a bit nervously, asked if they could take a picture, quickly adding that it was fine if not. She’d heard this singer didn’t really take photos.

Wu Xuxu cheerfully stepped in and took her camera. “Come on, I’ll take it for you!”

She raised the camera and pressed the shutter, snapping a photo of Fang Li and the girl standing beside him.

In the photo, Fang Li tilted his head slightly, a bright, clean smile on his face. The girl, surprised at her success, was smiling shyly under her straight bangs.

“All done! Take a look!”

Wu Xuxu handed the camera back to the girl. But just as she lowered the lens, she noticed that Fang Li’s previously smiling eyes had suddenly frozen, locked on something in the distance. His pupils widened, and the warmth in them vanished in an instant.

Across the plaza, a black Mercedes had just pulled up. Qin Weidong stepped out, fresh from the airport and still in his travel clothes. He tossed his suit jacket back into the car, turned, and looked toward the crowd gathered around the Nan Feng fundraiser. He saw the piano on the stage—and Fang Li, now below it, smiling as he took pictures with a group of students.

Their eyes met, and Fang Li froze completely.

The world around him seemed to fall silent.

Qin Weidong?!

Why was he here?!

Wasn’t he supposed to be on a business trip in Los Angeles?!

Why was he back already—?!

Qiao Shi was standing right beside Fang Li. His classmates had also come over, asking for permission to perform one of Fang Li’s songs at their school’s evening event. Just as Qiao Shi touched Fang Li’s arm, he noticed Fang Li’s whole body had gone stiff. Confused, Qiao Shi looked around—and then spotted Qin Weidong in the crowd. He gasped.

“Brother Qin?! What’s he doing here?!”

Qin Weidong hadn’t had a moment’s rest these past few days. Over thirty straight hours of intense work had left the corners of his eyes bloodshot. He looked like a caged beast, his expression unreadable as his sharp gaze locked onto Fang Li’s face, his body. He saw the charity booth’s posters, the leftover donation postcards still stacked nearby.

Fang Li couldn’t move a muscle. Qin Weidong wasn’t the same as when they were younger. Now, there was a raw, commanding edge to him that couldn’t be hidden. Just one look from him froze Fang Li in place.

He watched as Qin Weidong walked toward him.

I’m screwed, Fang Li thought.

But to his surprise, Qin Weidong walked straight past him.

“What’s your donation goal for this event?” he asked.

The petite Japanese girl manning the donation booth looked up at him. “T-Ten thousand dollars?” she stammered, misunderstanding his question—she thought he meant the total goal for all three days.

Qin Weidong pulled out his wallet and, without blinking, used the pen on the table to write out a check. He placed it down.

“I’ll cover it.”

The girl was stunned by the sheer amount. She bowed quickly. “Thank you, sir. Could we have your information for our records? We’ll also send you a small thank-you gift. If you leave your address, we can send a postcard as well—”

Before she could finish, Qin Weidong had already turned away. He grabbed the stack of donation postcards and strode straight to Fang Li.

Fang Li’s throat felt dry. “Qin Weidong…”

Qin Weidong didn’t even hesitate. Right in front of him, without the slightest concern for appearances, he tossed the entire stack of postcards into the band’s trash bin.

“You’re coming with me. Now.”

Sensing things were going downhill, Qiao Shi quickly said, “Brother Qin—! That song was something our band asked Brother Li to perform… He’s supposed to have dinner with us tonight too!”

Qin Weidong ignored him completely. He’d taken the earliest flight back to New York that morning, working through five hours on the plane, and he had to fly right back to Los Angeles tonight.

There was exhaustion etched deep into his sharp features, as if even the skin on his body couldn’t hold together much longer. He turned to Fang Li.

“Fang Li, I don’t want to start a scene here. Come home with me.”

Qiao Shi opened his mouth again, but Fang Li’s hand was already trembling as he reached up and untied the scarf around his neck.

“I’m going back first.”

“Brother Li…!”

Qiao Shi didn’t want to let him go—not now. He didn’t know why, but he had a strong feeling that if Brother Li went home with Brother Qin like this, the night would end badly.

Fang Li said nothing. Seeing him obediently walk toward him, Qin Weidong’s fury was momentarily subdued. They drove all the way back to the apartment. After shutting the door, Qin Weidong threw down his coat. His strikingly handsome face, now etched with exhaustion, looked cold and merciless.

He yanked off his tie and said, “Fang Li, do you really think I can’t bear to hit you? Is that why you keep testing my limits again and again?”

“I didn’t…”

Fang Li bit his lip. Suddenly, he recalled that night four years ago—when he had gone to sing at a nightclub behind Qin Weidong and Ding Haoyang’s backs. After being caught and dragged back, Qin Weidong had taught him such a brutal lesson in the hotel that it haunted him to this day.

Clenching his palms, Fang Li tried to stay calm. “I told you about this already. I went to Blitz Square to sing for the charity drive—it was our band’s two-year anniversary event. I did tell you…”

“And did I agree to it?!”

Qin Weidong’s eyes locked onto him. He exploded, “Fang Li! Did I fucking give you permission?!”

Fang Li forced himself to stand his ground. He looked up at Qin Weidong and shouted, “Qin Weidong…! I’m an adult! I’m a fully functioning adult! I’m not some pet you keep—I don’t need your permission for every little thing! I like playing the piano! I like singing! I don’t need your consent to do these things!”

“You don’t need my consent?!” Qin Weidong let out a cold laugh, seething with rage.

Those five hours on the plane, every time he thought about Fang Li lying to him again and again, appearing in public, singing for strangers, getting photographed—it drove him mad. This was someone he’d wanted to keep hidden from the world, someone he couldn’t bear to part with for even a second since bringing him from China to the U.S.!

It felt like a red-hot iron was searing through his chest. Qin Weidong had reached his limit.

“What the hell are you trying to do?!”

Fang Li was yanked by the arm with a force he couldn’t resist.

The next second, the world spun. Qin Weidong had slammed him down onto the couch. Fang Li screamed, “Let go of me, Qin Weidong!! You bastard, what the hell are you doing?!”

Qin Weidong was done talking. He pulled the belt from his waist, gripping it tightly. “Fang Li, I haven’t laid a finger on you all these years. I let you audit classes, join a band—I never stopped you, because I thought that was the freedom I could afford to give you. But don’t mistake my compromise for weakness. Don’t think I’ll always give in. Fang Li, I’ll only hit you this once. You’d better remember this lesson well. Never again treat my words like they don’t matter.”

Fang Li couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was pinned down by Qin Weidong, and before he had time to react, the belt lashed down with a sharp crack. The explosion of pain across his back nearly made him black out.

“You’re fucking crazy! Qin Weidong…! You’re insane! Let me go…! Fuck—let me the fuck go…!!”

It hurt too much. Way too much.

Fang Li struggled with all his might. His clothes were completely disheveled from the fight, but the difference in strength between them was too great. Qin Weidong’s hand clamped down hard on his waist, rendering any resistance useless. The pain was unbearable, and though Fang Li screamed, kicked, and cried out, nothing worked.

The pain came from his body—but to Fang Li, it felt like his heart was being torn open as well.

He started to cry.

Tears of heartbreak fell one by one onto the chaotic mess of the sofa. “Qin Weidong—let me the fuck go..! What gives you the right to hit me—what did I do wrong?! You bastard—!”

“Didn’t you always know I was a bastard?”

Qin Weidong stared down at Fang Li’s tear-streaked, swollen, heartbroken face.

He had never told Fang Li that his feelings started when he was still young—when he first had a dream about him.

From that moment on, he could never control himself again. He was going to make Fang Li his and his alone. And over the years, hadn’t he done exactly that?

Qin Weidong grasped Fang Li’s jaw, his palm wet with tears. “Lili, how many times have I told you? I don’t like other people seeing you. After all these years, don’t you understand me yet? I can give in to you on everything—from Chongsi, to Jinyang, to New York. It doesn’t matter if I’m Qin Weidong of the Fang family, or Qin Weidong of the Qin family—I’ve never changed toward you. But why do you keep treating my words like they don’t matter? If you were just a cat or a dog I kept… do you think I wouldn’t actually tie you up?”

The pain was unbearable. Fang Li cried out, “Qin Weidong! What the fuck do you even want from me?! What do I have to do to make you satisfied?! Haven’t I been obedient enough all these years? I’ve been more obedient than a damn dog!”

Fang Li’s thin shoulders trembled. His voice came out broken under the tears flooding his face: “Back when I was in night school, you told me to drop out, so I did… In Jinyang, did you ever agree to let me work at the music shop?! I begged you for two months to get that job! Just because you make money now, I’m supposed to be some worthless thing that has to beg for everything?! Later, when you went back to the Qin family, I was really happy for you, I truly was! Then you said we were going to America—you didn’t even ask me—but did I say no even once?!”

It hurt too much. His heart hurt so much, it was like being torn apart from the inside. All the humiliation and repression inside him exploded like a knife plunging straight into his chest—he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“All these years, you didn’t want me going out, so I only wrote songs. I could only sit in the audience, watching others sing freely, shine under the spotlight, chase their dreams! And me?! Why not me?! Tell me—why can’t I?!”

Fang Li suddenly twisted his body and, summoning all his strength, landed a fierce kick on Qin Weidong’s thigh! Qin Weidong staggered back a step from the blow, then snapped back to his senses and lunged forward to grab the escaping Fang Li.

“No reason! Fang Li, I’m telling you—so long as I’m here, don’t even dream of stepping on that stage in this lifetime!”

The words crashed to the ground like iron, final and brutal, smothering Fang Li in utter despair. He struggled and beat against Qin Weidong, shouting through tears, “Qin Weidong! You heartless bastard! Get out! You’re nothing but a fucking animal! Taking you in back then was the dumbest, most pathetic, most regretful thing I’ve ever done! Get out of here! Go back to your precious Qin family!”

Fang Li’s words were sharp and searing, like a glowing needle piercing straight into Qin Weidong’s most vulnerable nerves. Qin inhaled deeply and said coldly, “Lili, that night you sang at the nightclub, I didn’t stop you because I couldn’t bear to—but don’t think that means I won’t.”

With that, Qin Weidong grabbed both of Fang Li’s wrists and yanked them upward. Then he picked up the belt lying nearby. Fang Li, sensing what was about to happen, widened his eyes in terror.

But in the next second, the belt never struck his hands. It slashed through the air with a terrifying crack—and landed on the sofa.

Qin Weidong’s face looked twisted with restraint. His eyes were red as he stared at Fang Li, searching for fear in his expression. Fang Li was frozen, heart pounding, convinced—just for a moment—that Qin Weidong really would strike him.

That thought alone was enough to make him feel as if all his organs had been violently ripped from his chest.

Trembling all over, he grabbed a ceramic mug from the table and hurled it at Qin Weidong!

“Qin Weidong!! Get out!! You fucking lunatic!!”

The mug shattered against a framed painting beside Qin Weidong, splintering instantly. Shards of ceramic and glass exploded together, scattering across the floor.

A piece of porcelain grazed Qin Weidong’s neck, leaving a thin scratch streaked with blood.

The room was in chaos.

Qin Weidong looked at Fang Li—his eyes red, face tear-streaked, staring back at him with hatred from the wrecked sofa. Calmly, Qin Weidong said, “Starting tomorrow, don’t go to the band.”

Fang Li’s heart felt like it was being crushed, pulverized. He blinked slowly, and another tear slid down his cheek.

“That’s your official notice?”

Qin Weidong didn’t reply. Fang Li’s heart had undergone major surgery. He told himself—he had already scared him enough. He couldn’t… he wouldn’t lay another hand on him.

He said, “Lili, the life I’ve given you, I swear I can continue to give for the rest of my life. I promise you’ll never have to worry about money—I said it, and I meant it. Whatever you want, I’ll try to balance it all… but don’t push me.”

Fang Li said nothing. His lip had been bitten raw, and tears slipped down into the hollow of his neck.

The living room was a wreck—shattered, smashed, torn apart. Qin Weidong stepped over shards of broken glass in his leather shoes. He crouched slowly down in front of Fang Li on the sofa and said, “I won’t be able to stay with you these next two days. I have to catch a flight to Los Angeles in a little while. There are urgent matters I need to handle there. Our specialists have already begun surveying the Rongshan mining zone.”

Fang Li’s lashes fluttered. “So this timing… was calculated too? In your eyes, my dream… is something that can be dealt with in just these two hours you’ve spent here?”

Qin Weidong was pulled back from his detachment by the devastation in Fang Li’s expression, but he knew he couldn’t afford to soften now. This couldn’t happen again. He would only be busier in the future, and he wouldn’t have the time or energy to go through this a second time.

“Lili, the company is at its most critical moment. I have to secure the Rongshan project. Stay at home. I’ll have the housekeeper come clean, and Mr. Tian will drop off your favorite desserts, okay? I’ll try to come back as soon as I can.”

Fang Li’s throat worked hoarsely as he tried to speak through his sobs. He was exhausted, drained to the bone. His gaze locked onto Qin Weidong, and for a split second, this man who had been with him for over a decade felt… unfamiliar.

Qin Weidong checked the time. He had to leave tonight—urgent matters in Los Angeles were waiting for him. He called the housekeeper, asked her to come clean up, then called the restaurant to deliver dinner. Despite everything, Fang Li still wouldn’t say a word to him.

Out of options, Qin Weidong made another call, instructing the housekeeper to watch over Fang Li and make sure he ate well after bringing the food.

Fang Li didn’t really hear the coaxing words Qin Weidong spoke after that. After such a fierce and brutal argument, the living room once again sank into silence.

He didn’t know when Qin Weidong had left. He didn’t have the energy to care.

He looked at the mess of shattered debris on the floor and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, Fang Li seemed to have made a decision. He picked up the phone lying on the floor and dialed Qiao Shi.

“Brother Li? Brother Li, are you okay? Are you at the apartment? Are you alright?”

Qiao Shi had been anxiously waiting for Fang Li’s call. He’d dialed him seven or eight times already with no answer. Qin-ge’s behavior earlier that day had terrified him—he’d really feared something might’ve happened.

Fang Li exhaled, lungs filled with the sting of metaphorical glass shards, each breath a fresh wound. He forced back his tears.

“Qiao Shi, can you do me a favor?”

“Of course, Brother Li.”

“…Can you buy me a plane ticket back home for tomorrow? As soon as possible… I’ll pay you in cash.”

---

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter