Li Ming also couldn’t help but smile when he saw the two of them like this. He hadn’t known them and especially Xiang Rong for too long but even after just spending one evening with them, you’d know how deep their feelings were. Today, this was even more obvious than usual. It was the type of relationship he aspired to have one day. “You were together for quite some time before, weren’t you?”

Zhu Yi gave a hum and leaned closer, pointing at Rong Xiang with his other hand. “Guess why she hates me talking about my first girlfriend so much?”

Li Ming raised his brows, unsure of what this had to do with each other. If he hadn’t even been able to live with that first girlfriend of his for a quarter of a year, then that pointed to her being a troublesome person. In that case, there were only a few possibilities why Rong Xiang might have a problem with her. Out of all of these, one naturally struck out. “She … was making trouble in your relationship because she couldn’t let go of you?”

Zhu Yi also raised his brows and then pursed his lips as if pondering Li Ming’s words. Finally, he shook his head though. “You’re not that far off. To be honest, she was making trouble for me after the breakup, constantly pestering me and badmouthing me everywhere she could. Then, I got together with Rong Xiang. You’d think she’d make even more trouble but, after she found out, she only threw one last tantrum, and then she was done.

“Well, she did continue to scold me everywhere, saying that I was a scumbag and that she didn’t want to see me or hear from me ever again, forever.” He wriggled his brows, clearly happy since that was what he had wanted anyway.

Li Ming continued to look at him, feeling that Zhu Yi’s expression had even turned a bit gloating. “I bet you were really sad about her not wanting to be a part of your life any longer.”

Zhu Yi laughed. “You bet! Nothing could have made me sadder at that time.” He shook his head and turned back to his girlfriend, smiling faintly. “So, clearly, I’ve managed to wisen up a lot in that short amount of time between my first and second relationship. But I guess that’s just how it works: You have to go through a few bad experiences before you make it to the good ones.”

Rong Xiang next to him only gave him a deep look. “I don’t think one qualifies as a few. Should I be worried now? Who knows if, in a few years, you’ll also count me as one of your bad experiences?”

Zhu Yi pouted his lips at her. “How could that be? My Ah Xiang is so lovely. If I were to lose you, I’d never date again!” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Even though she didn’t usually mind him joking about his ex, doing so right after they had talked about her and how she felt like a burden might also be too much. Later, when Li Ming left, he definitely had to bring it up.

For the time being though, he kept quiet on that issue and instead turned back to Li Ming. “Anyway, it’s a pity you and Zhao Chen are not together anymore but I’m sure you’ll find somebody nice again. Who knows? If you actually start working for charity, you might find somebody nice there. The type of guys that do charity … well, I guess they have something going for them already.”

Li Ming smiled but shook his head. “Honestly, I’m not going to be looking for a new relationship anytime soon. For now, I just want to focus on switching careers and helping you guys out with the courses as much as I can. Then after that … I guess I might keep an eye out for somebody new. But that is so far away right now, I won’t even think about it yet.”

Zhu Yi gave a hum, not arguing that. He also took back his hand that was still holding Rong Xiang’s, continuing to eat instead. “Well, it’s alright. You just have to make sure you’ll be open to it when the right person appears. You wouldn’t want to miss true love for a job. Even if it’s an awesome job, it’s not worth it.”

Li Ming sighed, not sure what to think of that. True love … Well, he had also thought about that three years ago. Then, it had ended up in shambles. Now, he had finally been ready to move on and see where that had led. Maybe it would indeed be better to just give it some more time. Anyway, he wasn’t that old. And even if he had been older, what did it matter?

He gave a hum and then wondered if he would be oversharing if he said more. In the end, he still felt like Zhu Yi and Rong Xiang wouldn’t mind though so he still spoke up. “You know, the one advantage of being gay is that I don’t really have to worry about things like children. No matter if I fall in love this year, the next, or only a decade from now, it is not going to have much of an effect on the overall course of my life.

“Sure, it would be nice to find somebody sooner that I can share my life with but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.” He shrugged his shoulders, really feeling that it wasn’t that bad.

Anyway, some things, you really shouldn’t rush. And love … no matter how he looked at it, he felt that it definitely was part of those things. After all, your first impression wouldn’t always be right. And furthermore, to not only have a good relationship with each other but to also be good for your partner and make sure that they were good for you, that required giving yourself some self-love first. So for him, it really seemed smart to first get his ducks in a row before he started to worry about his love life again.