CH 23

Su Li sincerely believed that Gu Zhongyi’s status was too high, and they were not allies.

This time, he lowered his voice and scolded, “Gu Zhongyi, you’re too shameless!” He bumped Gu Nuan’s arm and whispered, “You need to hurry up! Inherit the business’ in your family and then expel Gu Zhongyi from the Gu family!”

Gu Nuan even with ten times his courage couldn’t do it. “I dare not.”

Su Li had enough of the commotion and playing around.

Seeing  that it was not suitable to stay there for long, he dragged Lin Yuxing to the balcony for a private chat, not allowing Gu Nuan to follow them.

The balcony of the apartment was not small, surrounded by several floor-to-ceiling glass windows, filled with sunlight, and was a particularly suitable place for sight seeing.

Su Li hooked Lin Yuxing’s shoulder, looked around, and whispered, “Tell me honestly, what’s really going on?” Seeing that Lin Yuxing didn’t understand, he felt frustrated, “Why do I feel like he likes you too?”

The word “too” was quite delicate.

Su Li made a rational judgment. “Isn’t the pace of your mutual affection a bit too fast?”

“How is that possible!” Lin Yuxing denied his words and then asked, “Why did you and Gu Nuan come here in the first place?”

“It’s all for you!”

“For me?”

Su Li was the only one who knew about their “relationship,” and it was understandable for him to worry. “I was afraid that Gu Zhongyi might do something to you. But in the end, I was also worried that you would unintentionally reveal something you shouldn’t.”

Lin Yuxing realized that there was a misunderstanding and quickly explained the events of the morning to Su Li. He candidly said, “He will bring me back because he feels guilty. It’s not his fault i ate the pineapple filling bun because I never told him that I’m allergic to pineapple.”

Su Li felt a bit nauseous upon hearing that fruits could be put into buns.

Now that Lin Yuxing was no longer affected by pheromones, he felt clear-headed and refreshed. He found a logical reason and said, “Today was purely an accident. I, an outsider, came to his house, which was already a nuisance. And just when he settled me in, you two came, so he might be a little unhappy…”

Su Li interrupted him, “Lin Yuxing, are you stupid?”

Gu Zhongyi’s gaze had already become so obvious, and you still couldn’t tell?

“What do you mean? Listen to me.” Lin Yuxing leaned close to Su Li’s ear and whispered a few words.

Su Li exclaimed in surprise, “Is it true or not, your compatibility—”

Lin Yuxing quickly covered his mouth.

“Mmm, mmm, mmm!” Su Li widened his eyes and made “mmm” sounds for a while before pointing at Lin Yuxing and then in the direction of the room, making a heart gesture.

“Exactly.” he confirmed it.

“…”

Lin Yuxing rubbed his chin and unilaterally concluded, “I think… he treats me so well, even to the extent that it misled all of you. It must be because he has been subtly influenced by pheromones as well.”

As long as Lin Yuxing continued taking the pheromone suppressant, there would be no more problems.

Su Li became quiet. He didn’t want to stay for a moment longer.

He patted Lin Yuxing’s hand, “After we eat, will you come back to school with me?”

“Of course!”

The glass door behind them was knocked twice.

They turned around—

Gu Nuan was hanging his head, looking pitifully lonely, and said with resentment, “Zhongyi called you guys for a meal.”

On the dining table were unusually light dishes and soup.

Since moving out, Gu Zhongyi occasionally tried to cook for himself. His cooking skills were not excellent but not to the extent of being inedible.

Since Lin Yuxing had been eating casually since he was young, anything that could be eaten was delicious to him.

Therefore, a famished Lin Yuxing praised Gu Zhongyi’s cooking skills endlessly and even had two bowls of rice without any signs of disgust. From time to time, he sincerely complimented, “Senior, your cooking is so delicious.”

Su Li and Gu Nuan turned their heads to look at him, all with expressions of astonishment.

Su Li secretly messaged Gu Nuan: [Forgive me, my roommate has no taste buds.]

Gu Nuan replied: [Let’s go out and eat something else later. This does not taste good…]

Gu Zhongyi had the air of a parent, with two fingers tapping the table, and said in a stern tone, “Don’t play with your phones during meals.”

After saying that, Gu Zhongyi scooped a bowl of soup for Lin Yuxing, with self-awareness, “My cooking is average. You only think it’s delicious because you’re hungry.”

“No, it’s really delicious.”

Lin Yuxing took a few sips of soup, saw that everyone was almost done eating, and took the initiative to get up and tidy up, planning to wash the dishes. Su Li and Gu Nuan also stood up and dutifully joined in the chores.

Gu Zhongyi didn’t put down his rolled-up sleeves and stopped them, “I’ll handle it.”

Su Li prepared to slip away, “Senior, it’s getting late. We should head back to school.”

Gu Zhongyi didn’t even look up and responded, “It might rain in the afternoon, so it’s better to go back early.”

As soon as Lin Yuxing heard that, he immediately went to the sofa to get his backpack.

Gu Zhongyi stopped him, “Yuxing.” He didn’t stop his actions of cleaning up the dishes and cutlery, his voice gentle but not allowing refusal, “I want to talk to you about something. I’ll give you a ride later.”

Finally leaving the apartment, Su Li and Gu Nuan regained their freedom and felt the fresh air downstairs.

As a cold wind blew, Gu Nuan shivered.

Innocently, he came to suffer all morning, feeling a bit tired from hunger and exhaustion. With a hint of speechlessness, he said, ‘I told you earlier, Brother Zhongyi has a bad temper, but he won’t do anything excessive. Besides, they are in a sort of romantic relationship, so it’s normal for them to be together.’

Being criticized by Gu Nuan, Su Li found it difficult to respond and said bitterly, ‘Things are complicated, you wouldn’t understand.’

Gu Nuan, feeling dissatisfied, asked, ‘And you, do you understand then?’

The two were like chicken bickering.

Su Li boasted, puffing his chest, ‘At least I’m in a romantic relationship. How could I not understand?’

‘Yours is just an online romance!’

‘Online romance is still romance. You don’t even have that!’

In an instant, Gu Nuan’s eyes turned red. You see, just a few days ago, the Alpha he liked rejected him.

He sniffled and put his hands in his pockets, looking sadly into the distance in the cold wind. with less enthusiasm he said, ‘Yes, I don’t have that.’

Su Li thought to himself, ‘Oh no, how did I forget about this!’ Mostly because he was used to arguing with Gu Nuan, he didn’t hold back for a moment.

He quickly put his arm around Gu Nuan’s shoulder, admitting his mistake, ‘Come on, today it’s my fault, I’m sorry! I’ll treat you to a meal. What do you want to eat? Gu Nuan, I was wrong. Don’t be mad..’

On the other side, at the apartment.

Lin Yuxing couldn’t sit still, so he tidied up the dining table with Gu Zhongyi.

Inside the kitchen, Lin Yuxing insisted on washing the dishes, saying, ‘You’ve done the cooking; let me do the dishes.’

‘You need to rest properly today,’ Gu Zhongyi said. ‘How about this? I won’t wash either, and the cleaner will come in the afternoon.’

‘Senior, as long as I’m full, I won’t feel weak anymore.’ Lin Yuxing directly picked up a cleaning sponge, squeezed some detergent, and quickly started washing the dishes. Back in my hometown, I used to help with a lot of housework every day. Washing dishes is not a difficult task for me.’

Lin Yuxing didn’t lie. Washing dishes, in his opinion, was indeed an effortless chore.

Gu Zhongyi couldn’t convince him and said, ‘There are fruits in the fridge. Wash some.’ A sink for washing fruits was half a meter away from the sink for washing dishes.

‘I’ll wash the dishes first.’

‘There are still red dots on your hands. It could be troublesome if they get irritated by the detergent.’ Gu Zhongyi made up a random excuse and took the cleaning sponge from Lin Yuxing’s hand, washing the dishes himself.

Lin Yuxing obediently wiped his hands and turned to open the fridge.

He was stunned.

Inside, there were many different types of fruits, many of which Lin Yuxing had seen but never tasted. He curiously glanced at them and turned to ask Gu Zhongyi, ‘Which ones should I wash?’

Gu Zhongyi replied, ‘Wash the ones you like.’ He continued, ‘I’ll wash the ones I want later.’

Lin Yuxing honestly chose the cheapest orange and only took one. He rinsed it with water and intended to peel and eat it directly. However, he realized that he was at Gu Zhongyi’s home and carefully cut the orange into a small plate.

Gu Zhongyi didn’t say much upon seeing it.

He let Lin Yuxing go to the living room first while he continued washing a plate of blueberries and cherries, and another plate of honeydew melon. He opened the fridge again, took out the strawberries soaking in saltwater, and washed them along with a few Valencia oranges. He brought them all to the coffee table.

Lin Yuxing looked at the colorful fruit on the coffee table and was amazed.

Little did he know that those were all fruits Gu Zhongyi had ordered  when he woke up in the morning.

‘The school doctor always says you’re too thin and lack proper nutrition.’

‘Really? But you always take me to eat delicious food. I feel like I’m not that skinny anymore’’

Lin Yuxing pinched his own arm and indeed felt he had gained some weight.

Looking at the various fruits on the coffee table, he once again felt the huge difference between himself and Gu Zhongyi.

Usually, Lin Yuxing wouldn’t even buy a few oranges. He would save every penny he could.

However, after receiving the salary Gu Zhongyi gave him, he occasionally listened to Su Li and bought some apples and oranges to supplement his nutrition. Indeed, as Gu Zhongyi had said, he was too thin. Taking off his clothes  gave the impression of skin and bones.

Gu Zhongyi handed him a fork and said, “I don’t know what you like to eat, so I bought a bit of everything.”

After spending time with Gu Zhongyi, Lin Yuxing no longer felt awkward. He first chose a fruit he had never eaten before, the cantaloupe. As soon as he took a bite, the sweet juice filled his mouth.

“So delicious!!”

Lin Yuxing was extremely pleased and continued to eat several more pieces before stopping.

He remembered they had something important to discuss. “Senior, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Gu Zhongyi remained calm. He peeled a Valencia orange for Lin Yuxing and placed it in his hand before slowly speaking, “The allergy medication we got today shouldn’t be taken together with the antihistamine you got yesterday. Otherwise, there might be side effects.”

Lin Yuxing’s face turned pale. Did he accidentally take them together in the morning?

Gu Zhongyi reassured him, “The side effects would be drowsiness and fatigue, similar to what happened this morning. Nothing serious.”

Lin Yuxing’s anxious heart finally settled. Thank goodness…

But in an instant, he had another thought, “How did you know that I got them?” His throat went dry, and he held back his words.

Looking at Gu Zhongyi’s composed expression, Lin Yuxing felt as if he was facing a powerful enemy.

In Lin Yuxing’s eyes, the meal and fruits suddenly felt like a “Hongmen Banquet” (a feast used as a trap or ambush).