Hot nerd * Little sunshine
Lin Tiao'an is an ordinary international student who was forced to throw himself into an internship as soon as the semester started. His only daily pleasure is slacking off to write stories for his family business.
Who would have thought he'd see his smiling, scheming boss turn around and suck up to another Chinese man in the break room?
Lin Tiao'an knows that man. Chen Xi is famous in the Chinese community.
A genuine Shanghai-born rich kid, with enough money to fill the Huangpu River.
Despite that, Chen Xi himself is steady and emotionally detached. He's doing a fully funded PhD, and supposedly still has his first love. Even the famous gossip accounts steer clear of him.
Unfortunately, nobody is perfect. He's been hard of hearing since birth, and it can't be cured.
Someone as insignificant as Lin Tiao'an had always looked up to the favored child of heaven.
Until recently, when he became completely resentful of the rich!
Lin Tiao'an was so furious he couldn't sleep at night.
So what if you can bring in sponsors? So what if you come from a prestigious family? So what if you're handsome and mature?
Well, I... I can at least turn you into the protagonist of an erotica!
And so, that night, Lin Tiao'an's inner smut peddler ran wild.
Being hard of hearing is great, being hard of hearing is wonderful. Now you have a character who can't escape, and a setup to match.
But the next day, at a meeting, Lin Tiao'an saw Chen Xi in a black turtleneck, broad-shouldered and trim-waisted, sitting beside a middle-aged, bald white man who was grinning obsequiously.
He realized in despair that even in his own writing, he couldn't make Chen Xi the bottom.
Wait, the hardworking, heads-down type isn't a bad ship, either!
--
Chen Xi had never lived without hearing aids, not since birth.
Even so, the sounds around him were always muffled. Then, halfway through a meeting, he suddenly heard a man's voice, crystal clear and bright:
[...Ben went limp beneath Chen Xi, dazed and pleading incoherently: "Chen, no more. I can't take it." Chen Xi's eyes reddened. He didn't want to hear Ben refuse, so he ripped off his hearing aids. For a moment, the room was filled with nothing but...]
The usually expressionless Chen Xi felt his face crack for the first time. He looked at Ben's shiny bald head and bulging belly.
Then he looked at Lin Tiao'an, a short distance away, head bowed and grinning lasciviously.
Very good, Lin Tiao'an. Very good.
...This little pig still hasn't recognized him.
Theme: Courageously stand up against discrimination