CH 33

The next morning at eight o’clock:

After running the heater all night, the sofa in Gu Zhongyi’s house was exceptionally comfortable. Lin Yuxing slept soundly until he woke up naturally.

On his phone, there was a message left by Gu Zhongyi.

[I’m going to buy breakfast, be back soon.]

Lin Yuxing: [OK.]

Gu Zhongyi: [Good morning, I’m still in line. What would you like for breakfast?]

Lin Yuxing: [Good morning, anything is fine.]

Gu Zhongyi knew Lin Yuxing’s preferences and replied, [Got it.]

Lin Yuxing smelled the alcohol on his breath and couldn’t wait to freshen up. He knocked on the bedroom door, but there was no response from inside. He gently opened the door and saw only Gu Nuan in bed, while Su Li was sleeping on the floor wrapped in a blanket.

Lin Yuxing quietly approached and tucked Gu Nuan in with the blanket. Then he took his toiletries from their room and went to the spare bathroom in the apartment.

Lin Yuxing had often sighed to himself that even the bathroom in Gu Zhongyi’s house was brighter than any room he had lived in since childhood.

Since he was taken back by Lin Xiufeng at the age of 10, he had been living under someone else’s roof.

In his memory, his room was a cramped space filled with cardboard boxes and old items, covered in dust, with just enough room for a small folding bed measuring 1.2 meters.

It was slightly larger than the beds at the welfare institute but smaller than what Lin Yuxing remembered from his own home.

Lin Yuxing remembered clearly that during his elementary school days, before Cheng Rong got injured at the construction site, it would often be just Lin Xiufeng, him, and Cheng Shuohua at home during the day. It was a brief period of happiness when Lin Yuxing could comfortably do his homework on the dining table outside.

He would also help Lin Xiufeng with household chores, while Cheng Shuohua would sit in a chair obediently, waving his hands and shaking his head with a silly smile while watching the TV.

When it got late at night and Cheng Rong returned home, Lin Yuxing would obediently return to his room and study on the pile of cardboard items.

The dim room had insufficient lighting and was especially hard on the eyes.

Lin Xiufeng had bought him a desk lamp in secret. “Your teacher said you’re a good student and will definitely be able to get into a good university in the future. so, don’t be playful and study hard. Once you do well, we can all enjoy a good life together in the city.”

Occasionally, she would mention Lin Yuxing’s biological older brother and sigh, “I wonder where your brother was adopted to and how he’s doing. But since you’re twins, perhaps you’ll recognize each other if you meet on the street.”

Lin Yuxing replied quietly, “maybe.”

Lin Xiufeng didn’t notice Lin Yuxing’s unhappiness and bit off the thread in her hand while saying, “Let’s not talk about him. Once you become successful, I will no longer blame your parents who passed away early.”

She believed that bringing Lin Yuxing back home was the most noble thing she had ever done.

But Lin Yuxing knew that Lin Xiufeng’s ultimate goal in bringing him home was nothing more than wanting him to take care of his intellectually disabled cousin in the future and ensure Cheng Shaohua’s lifelong well-being.

That’s why, despite Cheng Rong’s strong opposition, Lin Xiufeng insisted on bringing back the child abandoned by his older brother from the welfare institution.

If she could still bear children, Lin Yuxing might not have had the chance to leave the welfare institution.

But no matter what, Lin Xiufeng did raise him, even though it was difficult.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Yuxing splashed his face with water.

Compared to his past experiences, the happiness he had experienced recently could be considered a dream. Lin Yuxing was about to lose himself and couldn’t tell his own identity anymore.

No, he couldn’t drift away!

He brushed his teeth and sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. Messy hair, swollen cheeks, he looked terrible, far from the youthful university student he should be.

Suddenly, something flashed in his mind, followed by a series of images.

“Such slender legs!”

“You’re Su Li, right?”

“Yes, you’re Yang Qing, Senior!”

…

“I’ve fallen for you, I’m done, I’ve fallen for you.”

“Aren’t you going to say something?”

Wait.

A basketful of embarrassing memories returned, and many scenes broke free from their restraints. Each scene portrayed his intoxicated loss of control.

Lin Yuxing’s hand holding the toothbrush froze.

Those unimaginable scenes danced in his head, almost overwhelming his composure.

The toothbrush in Lin Yuxing’s hand fell into the sink, and he swallowed the foam in his mouth, his face filled with despair.

He couldn’t care less anymore. After hastily washing up, he walked hurriedly to the living room, picked up his phone, and repeatedly checked the messages he had exchanged with Gu Zhongyi.

At first glance, Gu Zhongyi’s text replies seemed normal.

Lin Yuxing was extremely hesitant, pacing back and forth with his phone. The horrifying scenes in his mind multiplied, such as kissing his face, patting his back, rubbing against his chest, hugging his neck… it was simply unbearable to imagine!

With a thud, Lin Yuxing dropped to his knees.

“What have I done!” He buried his head in the sofa, wishing to go back to his intoxicated self from last night.

But soon, Lin Yuxing couldn’t tell if it was reality or a dream.

Because in those memories, there was no sign of anger from Gu Zhongyi. That couldn’t be possible, it was too unbelievable. Faced with such confessions from Lin Yuxing, Gu Zhongyi would never be lenient, right?

After much consideration, instead of panicking on his own, he decided to ask the person involved directly. He clenched his fists and typed on his phone, but the phone stubbornly lagged for a moment.

Lin Yuxing: [Senior, I didn’t do anything strange last night, did I?]

Gu Zhongyi was in line to buy breakfast and, to prevent Lin Yuxing from overthinking and leaving his apartment,  told a small lie: [No, you didn’t.]

Lin Yuxing couldn’t be certain and asked subtly: [You’re not lying to me, right… I was drunk, I must have caused trouble for you, right?]

Gu Zhongyi: [After you got drunk, you fell asleep on the sofa and didn’t wake up all night.]

To add to the authenticity–

Gu Zhongyi: [But you did talk in your sleep.]

Lin Yuxing anxiously asked: [What did I say?]

Gu Zhongyi, who was almost at the front of the line, saw the hot soy milk that Lin Yuxing liked and smiled: [You said you like…]

Lin Yuxing became extremely anxious, his heart leaping to his throat, unable to swallow.

Gu Zhongyi: [You said you really like this birthday and want to spend it with me every year. Other than that, nothing happened, and you didn’t cause me any trouble.]

Lin Yuxing was stunned. What a strange development. None of the things Gu Zhongyi mentioned had any recollection in his mind. All the memories he recalled were completely different from what Gu Zhongyi had mentioned.

Could it be that everything Gu Zhongyi said was true, and all his own memories were just part of a dream?

Considering it, Lin Yuxing had never been drunk before. It wasn’t entirely impossible to confuse the situation.

He convinced himself with a sense of relief.

Lin Yuxing wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat down on the sofa, taking a deep breath. It seemed that all those shameless scenes from last night were purely his imagination. He touched his chest and felt a tingling sensation, unable to tell if it was a sense of loss or something else.

He looked in the direction of the bedroom and asked Gu Zhongyi, “[Shouldn’t I be sleeping in the bedroom with them?]”

Gu Zhongyi replied, “[Gu Nuan is a light sleeper, so I didn’t let you sleep in the bedroom.]”

Concerned, Lin Yuxing asked, “[Where did you sleep?]”

Gu Zhongyi answered, “[On the living room floor.]”

Lin Yuxing looked at the hard floor covered with a carpet and reached out to touch it, feeling sorry. “…If I had known, I wouldn’t have drunk. I could have slept on the floor.” In his opinion, Gu Zhongyi hadn’t experienced much hardship since childhood, and sleeping on the floor was too cruel for him.

Lin Yuxing flattered him, saying, “[Little hamster, let me massage your shoulders when you get back.]”

Gu Zhongyi replied, “[good. Here’s your reward].”

This message came with a photo of a bag of breakfast that Gu Zhongyi bought, all of which were Lin Yuxing’s favorites.

Lin Yuxing’s heart thumped.

He quickly turned off his phone and pressed his hand against his chest. “Calm down!”

After shouting, the exhaustion of his first hangover slowly enveloped Lin Yuxing.

The scenes of himself persistently pursuing Gu Zhongyi in his dream surfaced again…

Now that Lin Yuxing understood his own feelings, he wiped his face in distress, feeling guilty for his actions towards Gu Zhongyi in his dream.

He didn’t know how to face Gu Zhongyi with what expression, and he didn’t know how to handle his belated first love. He sank into the sofa, deeply frustrated.

Lin Yuxing was just beginning to experience the stirrings of love, a bit late.

It was his first time realizing what liking someone felt like.

Happiness in dreams, bitterness in reality.

How he wished he could be an ordinary college student without any family burdens or burn scars. But the truth was the truth, and Lin Yuxing knew he couldn’t change anything, so he no longer held any expectations.

To prevent himself from continuing to overthink, he got up to check if there were any dishes and chopsticks to wash in the kitchen, only to find that Gu Zhongyi had already cleaned everything.

The only pitiful sight was the leftover cake placed on the kitchen counter.

Lin Yuxing once again recalled the birthday party from last night, feeling melancholic.

“Ah…”

Gu Zhongyi had been so good to him, yet he still held such feelings… He was probably like the ungrateful snake in “The Farmer and the Snake.”

Lost in thought, Lin Yuxing stared at the cake and didn’t even notice when Gu Zhongyi entered the apartment.

Gu Zhongyi walked around the living room but didn’t see anyone, thinking that Lin Yuxing had gone into the bedroom.

He went straight to the door and knocked twice, but there was no response.

“Yuxing?”

As an Alpha, Gu Zhongyi wouldn’t be so impolite as to open the door without permission. He was still holding a big bag of breakfast and planned to go to the kitchen to organize things before calling them to wake up.

The bag made a “rustling” sound as he walked, but there was no other movement.

However, when Gu Zhongyi pushed open the kitchen door, he saw Lin Yuxing standing there with half a cake in his hands, raising them above his head and murmuring to himself.

Gu Zhongyi felt his eyebrow twitch.

Because Lin Yuxing was devoutly praying to the cake, “Dreams and reality are opposite, Buddha bless, cake bless, please don’t let me have this kind of dream again! Don’t let him appear in my dreams anymore!”

Lin Yuxing bowed three times to the cake decisively, saying, “Let him roll out of my dreams!”

The “he” he referred to was Gu Zhongyi in his dream, not the real Gu Zhongyi.

Perhaps Lin Yuxing really believed that birthday wishes would come true…

But now it was already the next day, and making wishes in front of a pile of cake crumbs might have the opposite effect.

For example, Gu Zhongyi curled his two fingers and knocked on the door twice.

“What kind of dream?”

Lin Yuxing was so startled that his legs almost went weak.

And then, Gu Zhongyi put down what he was holding and calmly approached Lin Yuxing, gradually cornering him.

Gu Zhongyi supported himself on the edge of the kitchen counter, trapping Lin Yuxing in a space about the size of an embrace. He felt a little displeased and asked knowingly, “Who is he?”

Lin Yuxing was surrounded by the scent of bitter orange, and he was so excited that his soul almost left his body.

His heart raced at the speed of a hundred-meter sprint, setting his whole body on fire. His head felt like it was “smoking,” making it hard for him to breathe and causing dizziness and ringing in his ears.

He didn’t understand the meaning behind Gu Zhongyi’s sudden teasing, but he also knew that Gu Zhongyi wasn’t that kind of person. He struggled to open his eyes and look at Gu Zhongyi, only to see Gu Zhongyi looking back at him with a handsome face full of smiles.

Absolutely captivating.

Lin Yuxing wanted Gu Zhongyi to let go of him, but he stuttered, and his words came out as, “Wh-what, wh-why are you, buh-bullying me?!”

The good atmosphere didn’t last more than a few seconds.

Gu Zhongyi said, “Bullying? Isn’t it supposed to be a ‘wall slam’?”

For someone of Gu Zhongyi’s age, he shouldn’t be ignorant of such a simple romantic term between lovers.

However, Lin Yuxing truly didn’t know. He couldn’t even get the words right in a drama.

“…Right.” Lin Yuxing lost all his momentum and shrugged his shoulders. “What are you wall slamming me for? What do you want?”

Gu Zhongyi asked in return, “If you can’t even get the words right, what do you think I want?”

“I-I haven’t seen a pig run since I’ve never eaten pork?” Lin Yuxing blushed and wanted to hide in a hole.

Looking at Gu Zhongyi, who showed no intention of letting go, he wore an expression that seemed to say, “Great, you’re a pig today.”

Lin Yuxing: “…”

But that was definitely Lin Yuxing’s overactive imagination. How could Gu Zhongyi bear to call him a pig? Even if he were to say it, Lin Yuxing would still be the most outstanding and adorable little pig in the world.

Gu Zhongyi liked him the most.