A Gentle Hunt

A married man who’s great at pretending to be the opposite of what he seems, paired with a single dad who lives life to the fullest

When Qi Hai was young, his life was a frantic, reckless mess. In a word, sloppy.

Then he met Li Weining, and sloppy turned into wild abandon. His happiness shot through the roof.

All in all, this is a short story about

carefully plotting for a long time and finally getting what you want,

sharing your life with the one you love,

and spending the rest of your days together.

There was a wooden table in Li Weining’s room, carved with lots of tally marks. Every so often, he would add another stroke. Qi Hai was curious, but Li Weining always kept him guessing.

Many years later, Qi Hai asked him again what all those tally marks meant.

This time, Li Weining answered readily. “Every time you get involved with a woman in some ambiguous way, I add a stroke.”

“Fuck!” Qi Hai immediately bristled, his face flushing with embarrassment. “Li Weining, are you a pervert? Why keep track of that?”

Li Weining pinched Qi Hai’s chin and said, “I’m settling the score!”