CYCYW?: Chapter One

Ti Xian woke up to the sound of his phone ringing.

It lay to one side beside his cupboard and was flashing with a dazzling light. His niece, Ti Nanyi, chose to call him at the worst times, always interrupting his appointment with Zhou Gong. [1]

“Uncle, ah, my manhua was confiscated by the new English teacher! It was your newest one. You know, the one you had just published: 《Little Wolf》! Ti Nanyi said.

“You were probably stealthily reading it in class. It serves you right.” When it came to this little niece, who had repeatedly interrupted his sleep, Ti Xiao ruthlessly exposed his poisonous tongue.

“No, no, that isn’t the point.” Ti Nanyi said, letting a little bit of excitement seep into her voice.

“What then?” Ti Xiao languidly asked, falling back into bed and wrapping his blankets around himself.

“The point is that this new English teacher is very handsome! As your pupil, I estimate that he is around 188cm. He has long legs and always wears a suit while teaching. He also wears tiny golden-rimmed glasses! When he took the manhua, he put it inside his suit! A self-restrained gong with forbidden desires!”

As Ti Nanyi said those last three words, Ti Xiao could practically feel the dense fujoshi flavour coming through the screen.

“And he’s very similar to the top, Cheng Ran, in 《Little Wolf》.”

《Little Wolf》was a BL manhua penned by Ti Xiao. A lot of the plot had to be abridged before it could be published. It took him one year before he finished drawing the manhua. He put in a lot of painstaking care.

The manhua’s protagonist, the gong, Cheng Ran, was a gentle, self-restrained guy with glasses. Ti Xian unexpectedly couldn’t help but feel that he did seem a little similar. He inevitably felt a little spirited. “And what?”

“And the sound of his voice is especially nice to hear. He is also really fluent in English. You didn’t know this, but he read us something today and it caused everyone to instantly go quiet. It was called ‘My Little Girl’. Oh~ it broke the sky.”

“But, ah…” Ti Nanyi’s tone suddenly changed and she laughed wretchedly.

“I actually feel that he resembles a gay guy. He would be an especially good fit as a gong for you. The strong and the weak~ The height difference between the two of you is absolutely adorable, hey.” She started to laugh again.

Ti Xiao was indeed rather short. He was a gay guy with a height of 173cm.

The fact that he was single was known by his whole family and even his neighbours. The law legalising gay marriage had already been passed for several years and was no longer unusual. It was no wonder that warm-hearted and helpful elders would try to introduce him to their family’s sons.

“Scram. Do you really want to try again? I guess you want me to call your father and complain?” Ti Xiao said without a trace of politeness.

Ti Nanyi’s dad was his older brother, Ti Zhe. Between them, there was an age gap of around twenty years.

Although Ti Xiao was resigned to his lot in life, his niece had unexpectedly poked his sore spot: his height. It was even more painful because, although she was only turning 15 this year, she was already 168cm. In comparison, he was 23 and only 173cm.

How could he be weak?

He refused to accept it.

As Ti Nanyi was used to her Uncle’s habit of cursing her, she paid no attention to it. “He he- shoot! I have to do my homework. Tomorrow I’ll observe the new English teacher for you, haha.”

She finally hung up the phone, and the room resumed its previous deathly stillness. The thick curtains were drawn and covered the window completely. It was impossible to see the colour of the sky. When you woke up, you were unable to tell what time it is. As he lived alone, this sense of loneliness was especially strong.

The people regard food as their haven, so, as a rule, he usually ordered deep-fried food as takeout. He didn’t add anything and instead sat in front of his computer to work.

His editor, Gua Pipi, sent him a message. ‘Did you think your new script was good? If you don’t think so, then do you want to have a look at the ones I have? Some of them are already earning public praise online.’

Gua Pipi was the editor in charge of his manhua’s serialization. He had followed Ti Xiao from the very beginning up until now. They had already been working together for three years.

Ti Xiao patiently read all of Gua Pipi’s scripts before deciding to write it himself.

Gua Pipi let him have his way. After all, for all of Ti Xiao’s previous works, both the drawing and the writing had all been done by him alone.

Even though it would delay the manuscript, Ti Xiao must do it all himself in order to feel at ease. After all, urging an author to hurry up and finish their manuscript was the best way to consolidate the friendship between the editor and their author

Ti Xiao graduated from Xuancheng Academy of Fine Arts. This school was one of the best nationwide. Having graduated school through oil painting, he was now drawing manhua. Although it sounded like they were both similar because they were both art, they are actually poles apart.

While he was still in college, Xiao Ti submitted work to many different manhua platforms. After several years, he began to gather some fame. As he was too lazy to deal with trifling personal relations, he chose to become a full-time manhua artist as soon as he graduated.

Although it was November, Xuancheng hadn’t found time to heat up, causing Ti Xiao to clothe himself in a big cotton-padded jacket. He had agreed to do a live drawing for his fans tonight, but he still didn’t know what he was going to draw. He embraced his old wife, Xiao Hulu, in his arms and scratched his chin, thinking deeply.

Xiao Hulu was a fox-like delicate cat. She was called Xiao Hulu because she always snored while she slept. Ti Xiao thought this name was very appropriate. [2]

Xiao Hulu had been with Ti Xiao since university. He had found her on the roadside one day on his way to school. That time, in order to let her stay in his dorm overnight, he had to fight with the landlady Aunty many times.

“Let’s draw Cheng Ran.” After turning it over in his mind, he decided to draw the gong of 《Little Wolf》. Today, he had just happened to actually listen to Yi Nanyi describing her new English teacher. He felt that he did seem to be very similar to Cheng Ran. Also, Ti Xiao had not yet drawn Cheng Ran in a suit.

After deciding, he turned on the live-stream, opened the room, and conveniently tied up the hair on his forehead.

【Oh, the room has finally opened. What are you drawing, ah? 】

【Turn your camera away from your hand, ah. I want to see Xiao Hulu QAQ. Let this aunt see his face~】

【Yay, Jiao Jiao has started! I’ve taken away this lovely seat. The front row seats have mineral water and seeds for sale.】

Ti Xiao’s fans called him Jiao, but he went by the pen name ‘Zhiyong Shuangquan’. The Weibo he was currently hosting his live-stream on had over 2w fans. This was due to his success in publishing manhua.

Ti Xiao spoke to the microphone. “Today I’m drawing Cheng Ran in a suit.” He then changed the name of the live-stream room.

Ti Xiao’s voice was clear and melodious, causing him to sound like a youth. In the circle of fujoshi writers, a voice like that could allow an author to reveal his hidden talents, gaining him a lot of fans.

As he was finishing off the draft, his cell phone rang. It was a call from his dear takeout brother.

“I’m going to go downstairs to get the takeout. Wait a moment.” Ti Xiao had to say something troublesome again. He pointed the camera down towards his desk, aiming it at the sleeping Xiao Hulu.

When he got downstairs, he found that there was no sign of the takeout brother’s silhouette. Ti Xiao stood idly downstairs as he waited. His feet were smothered in soft woolen slippers, while he was also wrapped like a big wooly ball in a cotton-padded jacket.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a moving company’s van heading towards him. He watched it as it parked to one side. A succession of workers then moved the furniture out piece by piece.

The block of apartments Ti Xiao lived in was quite old and didn’t have a lift. It had six floors, with each unit consisting of two rooms and a living room. On the flip side, however, it was conveniently located, and it was very close to Subway Line 6. It was also close to the kindergarten, the elementary school, and the junior/senior middle schools. It lay within all three zoning regions. [3]

In turn, the rent naturally rose sharply. Ti Xiao had paid his rent before the new year started, directly handing over enough for two years. At that time, Subway Line 6 hadn’t been opened, so the rent was not high.

Finally, he received his takeout and ran upstairs with a ‘dun, dun, dun’ sound. Ti Xiao lived on the fourth floor, but he didn’t hear any noises until the third. He turned the corner at the staircase and was finally able to see his new neighbour.

The man wore a white shirt and was facing away from Ti Xiao, telling the workers where to place the furniture. Ti Xiao couldn’t see what he looked like because his head was blocked by the stairway.

He was really tall!

Ti Xiao held takeout in his hands and looked upwards, admiring his 185cm neighbour immensely.

He examined the man up and down. He was wearing carved Oxford shoes, and his long legs were wrapped in perfectly straightened trousers. His white shirt was firmly tucked into his trousers, outlining his narrow waist, while he also wore a well-fitted jacket over his suit.

Ti Xiao clicked his tongue and silently smacked his lips. This man’s back was not bad.

Fortunately, Ti Xiao remembered that he still had a live-stream going in his house. He wasn’t going to let himself indulge in his homosexuality. He slowly walked towards the stairs. As he did, he found himself walking in the direction of his neighbour. He cautiously looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

In fact, when he reached his door, he pretended to carelessly turn around and glance towards his neighbour’s home. The view of his back sent thoughts thronging through his mind.

To be honest, the view of his back was quite good. It was very handsome.

【He’s returned! I told you I was just slobbering over Xiao Hulu. You look at the desk. 2333】 [4]

【Be careful that Hulu doesn’t scratch you, haha.】

【Why would he scratch, la? I’m not drawing Little Wolf’s Cheng Ru for you.】

“Not drawing Cheng Ru.” Ti Xiao repeated, deleting his draft of Cheng Ru. “Today I’ll draw the view of someone’s back.”

【I’ll buy a few oranges, you stand there and don’t move, hhhh.】

【Buy dirty oranges, hahaha.】

【What view, ah?】

Ti Xiao raised his head and glanced at the screen, catching sight of the last message. He hooked up his lips. “The view of a suitable marriage partner.”

---

TOC | Next Chapter

---

[1] – Zhou Gong was a member of the 11th Century Zhou royal family. He was a duke and was later known as the ‘God of Dreams.’ Hence why Ti Xiao has an appointment.

[2] Chinese dictionary says Xiao Hulu literally translates to ‘Little Snore’.

[3] – This confused me, but it’s probably just a regional thing. I’m making a note anyone. Just in case. A zoning region is a certain area around schools. If you are in this region, then you get first priority for joining these schools over people who aren’t. Thus, Ti Xiao’s house is in a prime location, because it sets you up from kindergarten right through to high school.

[4] – 233 is basically the Chinese netizen version of ‘lol’. The more 3’s there are, the more emphasis there is, eg. ‘looool’ would probably be ‘233333’. See?

---

Ramblings: I can’t help but feel that the author has a leg/height fetish or something. Just me?

---