ATLT Chapter 2

| Previous | Table of Contents | Next |

(4)

That day, Zhang Linghao was indeed very generous with his tip. As Chu Yi counted the money, he felt just a little bit better.

At that time, his roommate, Dai Yanyan’s birthday was approaching. When it was Chu Yi’s birthday, Dai Yanyan had gifted him a GUCCI bag. Chu Yi had already decided that he must return a gift of a similar value for Dai Yanyan’s birthday. This tip came just in time to cover the cost of a gift.

He picked out a new GUCCI bag, one that was even a little more expensive than the one he had received. That’s how social etiquette worked—better to spend a bit more and settle the favor properly than to owe someone.

Who would have thought that when Dai Yanyan received the gift, he would ask, both excited and awkward, “Chu Yi, this isn’t an authentic one, is it?!”

Chu Yi nodded and pulled out the receipt from the big shopping bag. “Yeah, I bought it from the store.”

Dai Yanyan looked even more embarrassed. “Uh… The one I gave you… It was a replica.”

Chu Yi was stunned.

For more than half a year, he had been carrying that bag, taking it out for countless shopping trips, even bringing it along on a trip to another city. He had taken so many photos with it—the red-green striped webbing and double-G monogram were eye-catching.

People in their line of work all seemed to love GUCCI and D&G—flashy, stylish, and prestigious. But ever since D&G got into that scandal, no one wore it anymore. At the club, every male host owned at least a few GUCCI items. Other than the bag Dai Yanyan gave him, Chu Yi also had a pair of shoes—he had hesitated for a long time before finally buying them.

But now, Dai Yanyan told him, “Are you stupid? Everyone buys replicas. You’re the only one getting the real thing. The real ones are so expensive!”

Chu Yi also felt like he might be a bit foolish, but he was determined to stay that way. He would rather not wear GUCCI at all and go for cheap Taobao brands than buy replicas.

He smiled at Dai Yanyan. “It’s fine. I’ve already bought it. Just use it.”

Dai Yanyan was embarrassed and wanted to buy Chu Yi a real bag in exchange for the fake one. But Chu Yi, being generous, declined. It’s fine. I’ve been carrying it for so long. I’ve already grown attached to it.

But after that, he never carried it again. Instead, he put it away on the top shelf of his wardrobe.

(5)

Only a few days after Zhang Linghao had drunkenly kissed Chu Yi, he showed up at the club again.

This time, he made quite an entrance—pulling up in a flashy sports car, holding a huge bouquet of fresh flowers, and boldly declaring that he wanted to deliver them to Chu Yi in person.

That day, Chu Yi had a day off and was at home playing video games. But then, his manager called, asking him to come in for an extra shift. The manager even offered a generous overtime bonus, so he didn’t hesitate—he put down his controller, freshened up, and headed out.

When he arrived at the club entrance, he saw Zhang Linghao sitting on the hood of his sports car, hugging a giant bouquet, grinning at him.

“If you won’t let me keep you as a sugar baby, how about dating me instead?”

Chu Yi wanted to refuse, but behind the glass doors, his manager and a bunch of coworkers were waving frantically and throwing him exaggerated looks, as if they were just waiting to rush out, shove him into Zhang Linghao’s car, and seal the deal—one hand for cash, one hand for the goods.

My body, my choices.

Chu Yi sighed and walked over to the passenger side. “How do you open this door?”

(6)

To be fair, Zhang Linghao was quite respectful toward Chu Yi. He knew that Chu Yi only sold companionship, not his body, and that he wouldn’t accept being a sugar baby. So, he decided to pursue him properly—using the label of "dating" to get what he wanted. Of course, before dating, they had to set some conditions.

Zhang Linghao was willing to openly date a man, but that man could not be a male host.

Chu Yi was still young, so pretending to be a university student should be easy enough, right?

To his surprise, Chu Yi rejected him outright.

His reasoning was simple:

"If I quit working at the club, I won’t have any money to support myself."

Zhang Linghao almost blurted out, "I can give you money," but stopped himself just in time. That would just turn into another form of being kept.

So instead, he asked, “Then can’t you find a normal job?”

Chu Yi replied, “I don’t know how to do anything. I have no degree, no skills—just my face. Tell me, what kind of normal job would want me?”

Zhang Linghao couldn’t answer. This was way out of his expertise.

He himself was a government official’s son who had studied abroad in the UK. He had no proper job, spent his days idling around, and aside from spending money, he was good at nothing. His father had already given up on him and pinned all hopes on his younger son, who was still in high school.

And so, the two of them locked horns—

One declared: “If you quit this job, we can be together.”

The other responded: “You should go chase someone else, Young Master Zhang. I’m not that desperate to be in a relationship.”

T/N: Please support my ko-fi page for more updates🍊🍊🍊