CH 87

It was another December.

Lin Yuxing had cut his hair into a neat short style and wrapped the scarf that Gu Zhongyi had given him last winter around his neck. At this moment, he sat in a taxi, watching the changing scenery outside the window. He had a slight smile on his lips as he held his phone, typing a message to Gu Zhongyi.

Beside him were two large bags of groceries.

Lin Yuxing: [I took your advice and called a taxi.]

Unlike the previous year when he was tight on money, this time Lin Yuxing readily paid the 17 yuan taxi fare.

After getting off the taxi, he shivered in the cold wind. He quickly put down what he was carrying and zipped up his coat.

The security guard who patrolled the residential area had already become familiar with him. Seeing the heavy bags of groceries at his feet, the security guard kindly approached and asked if he needed help.

Lin Yuxing waved his hand. “No need, it’s not heavy.”

With that, he bent down, effortlessly picked up the groceries, and briskly walked toward the apartment building.

The puzzled security guard touched the back of his head and praised, “I didn’t expect it, you’ve got some strength!”

After getting into the apartment, a message notification appeared on his phone.

Lin Yuxing unlocked the screen and saw Gu Zhongyi’s message: [You’re obedient.]

Lin Yuxing: [Hamster-eating-sunflower-seeds emoji]

Gu Zhongyi: [It’s getting cold lately. Next time you want to buy something, wait for me to come back and we’ll go together.]

Lin Yuxing: [Sure. You’re not working overtime today, right?]

Gu Zhongyi: [did Gu Nuan tell you this?]

He was helpless. His cousin Gu Nuan… always sneakily chatting with Lin Yuxing during work hours, ruining the little surprises between him and Lin Yuxing.

Gu Zhongyi said with a serious tone: [He’s slacking off at work.]

Lin Yuxing quickly said: [Don’t let this slip in front of Uncle Tang, Gu Nuan actually takes his work seriously.]

Gu Zhongyi: [… I know.]

Recently, under Gu Yuanchen’s suggestion, as long as they didn’t have classes, Gu Zhongyi would go to the company with Gu Nuan to learn and adapt ahead of time.

Gu Zhongyi had previous work experience, so he could easily handle the work there. His outstanding performance impressed everyone in the company, which added immense pressure on Gu Nuan.

However, Gu Zhongyi didn’t think that Gu Nuan was incapable because of it. After all, in the previous world, he and Gu Nuan joined the company around the same time, and their abilities were comparable.

This time, he was indeed taking advantage of the situation.

Gu Nuan, who didn’t have the advantage of rebirth, was struggling. As a rookie entering the workplace, he worked diligently and put in effort. Whenever Gu Zhongyi finished work, Gu Nuan was still working overtime with tears in his eyes.

But with Gu Zhongyi as a comparison, coupled with his determined personality, Gu Nuan was becoming more and more competitive.

With just this point, Gu Yuanchen was very satisfied.

Of course, Gu Nuan wasn’t without complaints. He would often complain in the group chat to Lin Yuxing and Su Li. He would say how his father was cold and ruthless at work or how Gu Zhongyi never smiled while working.

He kept going in circles and summed it up with one word: tough.

The chat group’s usual atmosphere would always be;

Gu Nuan: [Is there anyone in the world as pitiful as me, a rich second-generation pitiful Omega?]

Su Li: [+1]

Lin Yuxing: [+2]

Su Li: [+3]

Su Li: [+4]

Su Li: [+5]

Lin Yuxing: [?]

Gu Nuan: [Su Li, that’s enough!]

However, that day, Gu Nuan changed his usual sad tone and proudly messaged the group.

Gu Nuan: [I’m off work!, I actually left work before Zhongyi-ge. I’m making progress!]

Su Li: [Are you proud of that?]

Gu Nuan: [Hmm!]

Su Li: [Haha, you’re so happy. Is Yuxing not busy tonight? Should we hang out?]

Gu Nuan: [I finally have some free time, I’m going out on a date with my Alpha.]

Su Li: [Tch, can’t rely on you anymore.]

Gu Nuan: [Guess what, I brought a few boxes of snowflake wagyu today. I wanted to give them to you guys.]

Su Li deleted the previous message.

Su Li: [I can’t live without you in this lifetime.]

On the other side, Lin Yuxing, who hadn’t been paying attention to his phone, tied on an apron and was busy in the kitchen.

That night, he and Gu Zhongyi would finally manage to have dinner together. He didn’t want to just make something hasty.

And so, after receiving the message, Lin Yuxing began to work with the ingredients, using both large and small pots.

The next day was the weekend, and he and Gu Zhongyi would have enough time to spend together. Thinking of this, he pursed his lips and walked lightly to the fridge, taking out two bottles of sauce.

On the stove, the small fire was stewing beef, and the cold dishes on the side had already been mixed with the sauce.

Lin Yuheng opened the sauce bottles, scooped two spoonfuls onto the plate of raw meat, mixed it evenly, and let it marinate in the fridge for an hour.

When everything was ready, he finally had a moment to pick up his phone.

At this moment, thirty minutes had already passed.

Lin Yuxing hadn’t had a chance to carefully read the chat history in the group when he received a call from Gu Nuan.

Gu Nuan’s voice was as cheerful as ever. “Yuxing, are you at home?”

Lin Yuxing untied his apron. “Yes, what’s up?”

Gu Nuan said, “I’m at the entrance of your residential area. I brought something for you, come get it.”

The call ended.

Lin Yuxing glanced through the chat history and realized that Gu Nuan had come to deliver beef. He quickly changed his shoes and headed downstairs. Because of the cold weather, he wrapped a scarf around his neck.

He pinched the soft scarf and caught a faint scent of bitter orange.

He curled his lips.

Ever since winter started, Lin Yuxing would often rush to the entrance when Gu Zhongyi was heading to work, quickly wrap his scarf around Gu Zhongyi’s neck, just to infuse it with a bit of his pheromones.

And the next day, that same scarf would definitely be around his own neck.

This became a sweet little interaction between them.

He remembered that the scarf wasn’t expensive, costing only a few dozen yuan according to what Gu Zhongyi had said. But its quality was exceptional, comfortable, warm, and resistant to shredding.

So, at Lin Yuxing’s suggestion, Gu Zhongyi bought two more to keep at home for their mutual use.

Lin Yuxing jogged to the entrance of the residential area.

“Gu Nuan!”

Hearing the voice, Gu Nuan got out of the private car. The driver got out as well, opened the trunk, and helped Gu Nuan take out several large packages of premium Japanese wagyu beef, along with some food gift boxes that Lin Yuxing had never seen before.

Lin Yuxing was surprised by the sight and felt a bit embarrassed to accept them. “Why so many?”

Gu Nuan, dressed in a suit with a scarf similar to Lin Yuxing’s, smiled and said, “A few days ago, my father went out for business and had some of the wagyu. Unexpectedly, today we received a lot delivered to our door, along with some other things. It’s a waste to keep them at home, and since Su Li likes to eat, I’m sharing them with you guys.”

After hearing this explanation, Lin Yuxing finally reached out to take the gifts.

Holding the heavy gift boxes, he thanked Gu Nuan. “Thank you, we’ll enjoy these with Senior.”

Gu Nuan sounded a bit disdainful. “Yuxing, why are you still calling him ‘Senior’?”

Lin Yuxing just couldn’t change his words. “It’s a habit.”

Gu Nuan patted his shoulder and smiled, revealing an expression that didn’t match his usual cool and handsome appearance. “Try to change it before we graduate. I have faith in you.”

After saying that, he suddenly grabbed Lin Yuxing’s arm and pulled him to the side.

The driver sensibly stepped back a step.

Gu Nuan turned to look and the driver took another step back.

Gu Nuan motioned for him to move further away.

The driver, a middle-aged male Beta, who had been with the Gu family for many years, had seen Gu Nuan grow up. He was quite helpless. “Young Master… I won’t report this to General Gu. You can rest assured.”

Gu Nuan felt a bit relieved. He leaned in and whispered to Lin Yuxing, “Do you know the ID789 from the forum?”

“Yes I do, What’s up?”

“I heard he’s your die-hard fan and was really active on the forum.”

“Is this something Su Li told you?”

Gu Nuan nodded. Who else could it be besides Su Li?

Gu Nuan scratched his nose and asked for a favor, “My Alpha sometimes comes to the school to secretly see me. He often gets accidentally photographed by classmates. Although they only post pictures of me and him from behind and gossip a bit on the forum, it’s not a big deal. But recently, my father has been monitoring me quite closely…”

Lin Yuxing listened attentively.

Gu Nuan looked a bit wronged as he continued, “My father says this not only affects his career, but also myself. I was wondering how he found out about it. It turns out he had an assistant keeping an eye on the campus forum…”

Lin Yuxing quickly grasped the situation. “Do you want me to help you delete the posts?”

“Yes, ideally the post should be deleted as soon as it’s posted. Just like when someone on the forum said bad things about you, they got deleted quickly!” Gu Nuan said, “I can pay you, the price is negotiable, monthly or yearly packages are all fine.”

Lin Yuxing thought for a moment. This ID789 seemed to have a lot of free time.

According to Su Li, any negative comments about Lin Yuxing on the forum would always be quickly deleted.

He wasn’t sure if ID789 would be willing to take on this task for Gu Nuan, but there was no harm in asking.

Holding the gift boxes, Lin Yuxing agreed for now. “I’ll ask him.”

Then, his gaze fell on Gu Nuan’s scarf.

Upon closer inspection, both of their scarves were the same design.

Logically speaking, even if the clothing on Gu Nuan wasn’t from a luxury brand, it wouldn’t be something that cost just a few dozen yuan. Lin Yuxing blinked in confusion, which Gu Nuan noticed.

“Yuxing, our scarves are the same, what a coincidence!”

The color and design were indeed identical.

Gu Nuan happily exclaimed, “My Alpha gave me this scarf a few days ago. Is this one from Zhongyi-ge? No wonder when he got to work today, he glanced at my scarf a couple of times!”

Lin Yuxing nodded.

Then, he paused and stared at Gu Nuan’s scarf around his neck for a moment. He might be a bit naive, but he wasn’t naive enough to believe that Han Yang would give Gu Nuan a scarf that cost just a few dozen yuan.

In his understanding, Han Yang would want to provide Gu Nuan with the best of the best that he could afford.

Moreover, Han Yang was quite famous now and had a considerable amount of money…

Lin Yuxing was taken aback. He couldn’t hold back the question. “Gu Nuan, do you know the price of this scarf?”