The panda’s eyes were filled with tears, and Xia Zuo’s face went pale.
“What’s wrong?” An Qi Luo hurried over to check on Xia Zuo.
Xia Zuo shook his head, “An Qi Luo, I’m fine. The panda just tripped over something; you should check if he’s hurt.” He was so frightened that his body went limp, and he could only lay still on the panda’s back.
Shuai Chang transformed back into human form and walked over to ask, “Yar…”
Yar Lin was afraid that Yaduo Nisi would expose his identity, so he quickly changed his appearance and supported Xia Zuo, saying, “My name is Yar. Boss, sis-in-law, and this is Xia Zuo. I’m fine; I just tripped earlier.”
Shuai Chang exchanged a meaningful glance with Yar Lin and stopped An Qi Luo, who seemed about to say something, suggesting, “Let’s take a taxi to the mall.”
An Qi Luo looked at Xia Zuo, who nodded in agreement.
The four of them hailed a taxi and got in. Shuai Chang suggested that An Qi Luo sit in the front passenger seat while he, Yar Lin, and Xia Zuo sat in the back.
“Xia Zuo, Yar, I forgot to introduce you earlier.”
Yar Lin looked gratefully at Shuai Chang; the boss really knew how to handle things.
Xia Zuo’s complexion improved a bit, “Yar, I’m sorry earlier. Did I talk too much and disturb you?”
Yar Lin shook his head, “It’s not your fault, Xia Zuo. You don’t have to blame yourself.”
The only difference between taking a taxi and being in beast form was speed; the taxi on Beastman Planet had a speed limit of forty miles per hour, which was much slower than Shuai Chang in his beast form.
The advantage of taking a taxi was that it conserved energy.
After a long time, they finally arrived at their destination. It was getting late, so they divided their tasks. An Qi Luo and Xia Zuo went to buy a bouquet, while Shuai Chang and Yar Lin went to buy rings. They would meet up later to select formal wear together.
Shuai Chang drove Yar Lin to the jewelry store, and they quickly picked out a pair of rings. After paying for them, they went to the agreed meeting spot to wait for An Qi Luo and Xia Zuo.
“So, how do you know Xia Zuo?” Otherwise, Yar Lin wouldn’t have refrained from giving his full name.
Knowing he couldn’t hide it from Shuai Chang, Yar Lin shared his sad past from a year ago: “Boss, I’ve lost a lot of weight compared to before. He wouldn’t recognize me by my appearance. Can you talk to sis-in-law and ask her not to tell Xia Zuo my full name?”
“Why don’t you want to be recognized by Xia Zuo?”
Yar Lin looked down, “I don’t know. Maybe the hurt he caused me was too deep, making me too scared to face him as Yar Lin.”
Shuai Chang patted Yar Lin’s shoulder: “I understand. I’ll talk to An Qi Luo about it when we get back. Don’t dwell too much on the past; you need to look forward to live.”
“Yeah, thank you, boss!” Yar Lin said gratefully.
Shortly after, An Qi Luo and Xia Zuo returned, and seeing the two empty-handed, Shuai Chang asked, “Where’s the bouquet? Did you not like any?”
An Qi Luo chuckled, “The bouquet will be delivered directly to the town hall tomorrow. Bringing it home today would just wilt it.” Indeed, the stronger the man, the less common sense he seemed to have. But Yaduo Nisi was still quite a good cook.
“My wife is smart; let’s go pick out the formal wear,” Shuai Chang said as he and An Qi Luo’s eyes stuck to each other.
Yar Lin couldn’t help but glance at Xia Zuo and saw a hint of envy in his eyes.
Yar Lin said, “Xia Zuo, I know this might be a bit forward, but I really want to know, do you… have a boyfriend right now?”
Xia Zuo was taken aback, a flash of sadness crossing his eyes, before he nodded, “I do.”
An Qi Luo looked surprised as he turned to Xia Zuo, “Xia Zuo, didn’t you say you didn’t have one? Did you get a new one over the summer vacation?”
Xia Zuo replied, “Not really. You could say I do, but I also don’t. I haven’t spoken to him in a year; I don’t know why. I just can’t seem to reach him.” Xia Zuo sighed, “But I still want to wait for him.”
Yar Lin thought to himself: Did he break up only to find someone else? Did that person dump him? Was he still this attached? He couldn’t help but feel gloomy, realizing he too had been dumped and still thought about it every day.
“Poor Xia Zuo,” An Qi Luo said, hugging him with concern. “It’s okay; you still have me.”
Xia Zuo nodded, putting on a brave face, “I’ve gotten used to it anyway. Thank you, An Qi Luo. Let’s go; aren’t we supposed to pick out formal wear?”
Shuai Chang and An Qi Luo walked ahead, while Xia Zuo noticed Yar Lin’s serious expression and asked with concern, “Yar, is there anything I can help you with?”
Yar Lin seemed hesitant to speak, and after some thought, replied, “It’s nothing; I just thought about my ex-boyfriend after hearing what you just said.”
Xia Zuo posed as a good listener.
Yar Lin gritted his teeth and continued, “He told me it was an online relationship.”
“What a coincidence; I have an online relationship too,” Xia Zuo exclaimed.
Yar Lin nodded, internally thinking that of course he knew.
“We hit it off right away; he liked me a lot, and I liked him too. But one day, he suddenly told me he wanted to break up.”
“Why?” Xia Zuo asked in confusion. “Didn’t you both like each other?”
That’s what I wanted to ask you too, why? Didn’t we like each other?
Yar Lin looked at Xia Zuo as if conveying thousands of words, shaking his head as he whispered, “I don’t know; maybe he suddenly fell for someone else. Maybe he was just playing with my feelings when he said he liked me.” After all, back then, he was a rather unpleasant fat guy.
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