Laurel was the hottest nightclub in Wancheng.

Whether in environment or in service, it was first-class in the industry, with various forms of entertainment coming out one after another. Every night, it was the most popular gathering place for young people in the city.

He Chuzhou took this person home to change into formal clothes before heading over. The two of them went in through the main entrance, walked through the bustling hall, and arrived at a spacious booth in the corner.

A mid-height partition of greenery blocked the many eyes that were glued to the two people behind it.

There were already many people sitting in the booth, all of them Wu Qing’s companions.

When He Chuzhou arrived, the nightclub prince was eating the duck tongue fed to him by his little lover, holding his cell phone in his hands as he typed vigorously.

When he finished typing, He Chuzhou felt two more buzzes in his pocket.

“Okay, I’m already standing here, yet you’re still hurrying me.”

The temperature of the indoor air conditioning was a bit high. He took off his jacket and held it casually in his hands, wearing only a dark casual shirt underneath.

His superior body proportions had an indescribable appeal under the oversaturated lights, relaxed and attention-drawing.

The little lover next to Wu Qing was different. This one was not as well-behaved as the previous, and when He Chuzhou appeared, his eyes were unswervingly glued to him.

Wu Qing was so thick-skinned that he didn’t notice. After waiting forever, this person had finally arrived.

He immediately picked up a pair of strange-looking glasses on the table and handed them over: “You haven’t seen these before, right?”

“Come on, let me introduce it to you. These are the latest 4D projection glasses, high-tech and with large-scale production. You can bring them—huh? You brought someone with you, ah?”

He belatedly realized that there was a figure following after He Chuzhou. He turned his head, and when he saw who it was, his eyes widened.

“Pei Xi? Fucking Pei Xi?!”

He grimaced and lowered his voice, his expression one of having seen a ghost: “What’s going on with you? Why did you bring him here?”

“No, how did you bring him here? How could he come with you?”

“Am I dreaming? But I haven’t started drinking yet.”

He Chuzhou: “I advise you not to ask. We just bumped into each other along the way and came over to have a meal together.”

Wu Qing was in disbelief: “Along the way? Along the way? A chicken and a weasel could bump into each other along the way, but you two can’t, ah. Brother, by making up nonsense here, are you trying to fool people into thinking that I have no brain?”

He Chuzhou: “Move first, you’re in the way.”

Wu Qing: “……”

He took a step back, watching helplessly as He Chuzhou brought this famous cold beauty to a seat and sat down. Anyone would be turned into a fool by this strike of lightning from the sky.

But he soon discovered that this reality was not the most shocking, and it only got worse from there.

—He Chuzhou actually put on gloves and tore up…..a duck head…..for Pei Xi?

“No way, what’s wrong with you?”

The corners of his mouth twitched. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to scold He Chuzhou for tearing up the duck head or for tearing it up for Pei Xi.

“Do I need to give you the entire eight pieces of duck?”

“This is a duck head, not a crab. Do you think you’ll be stabbed to death if you bite it directly?”

He Chuzhou said concisely: “That will dirty the hands.”

Wu Qing: “……”

Something was wrong.

There was a problem.

Something definitely wasn’t right.

Were these old wall sconces casting black magic at them?

He cast his gaze toward He Chuzhou’s side, where Pei Xi sat with lowered eyes, watching intently as He Chuzhou peeled the duck head. His demeanor and mannerisms all revealed an unusually quiet and well-behaved nature.

This was the complete opposite of the Pei Xi he knew. Those not in the know might assume this was a twin.

“Um, President Pei?”

He called out tentatively.

However, the other just raised his eyes and gave him a neutral look, and after a moment, lowered them to continue to watch He Chuzhou dismantle the duck head.

This cold and condescending energy, as if he despised all living beings, was the same as before…..

No way, what exactly happened?

Wu Qing was confused and curious to death, but it was a pity that He Chuzhou had no time to pay attention to him at the moment.

After tearing up the duck head, he pushed the plate of meat in front of Pei Xi and handed him a pair of disposable chopsticks: “Come on, try some and see if you like it.”

Pei Xi took the chopsticks, selected a small piece, and placed it into his mouth.

He Chuzhou: “How is it?”

Pei Xi chewed slowly, swallowed, and then his eyes lit up a bit: “It’s really tasty.”

He Chuzhou looked at his appearance of having discovered a new world, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly: “Now you have an appetite?”

Pei Xi nodded: “En.”

He Chuzhou: “Then eat more, slowly. Tell me if you don’t have enough and I’ll tear more up for you.”

No matter when or where, Pei Xi always ate in a polite manner, and telling him to eat slowly was nothing more than extending the time to entertain onlookers.

Light moved to the rhythm of the music, constantly sweeping over his forehead and the tip of his nose, and occasionally casting the shadow of long eyelashes under his eyes.

Pretty, quiet, and incredibly well-behaved.

In an environment with tangled silhouettes and chaotic lights, he maintained an attitude of indifference to everything around him, but was willing to speak softly only to He Chuzhou and stay by his side with full dependence.

Like a cat that had been spoiled by luxury. It would run up and down its nest when at home, but would be wary of the unfamiliar world when it came out and wouldn’t take a step away from its person.

When He Chuzhou looked at such a Pei Xi, something seemed to scratch his heart lightly, and another piece of an unstable tower silently collapsed.

His deep, handsome features were softened under the dim light. As if on a whim, he suddenly whispered: “Xinxin?”

This was the first time he had addressed him so after Pei Xi corrected him.

The two not-uncommon characters were folded together affectionately, and it was not as difficult to say as he had imagined. Instead, there was an indescribable sensation, an electric current quietly flowing from his mouth.

Especially so when Pei Xi raised his head to look at him and said, “En?” in a questioning tone.

The corners of his lips lifted uncontrollably, and he asked in good cheer: “Would you like some crayfish and river crabs? I can peel some for you.”

Pei Xi glanced at the plate of brightly-colored crayfish on the table, then back at He Chuzhou before finally nodding: “Okay.”

He Chuzhou put a whole plate of crayfish in front of him, like a doting parent happily implementing his feeding plan.

Wu Qing just watched from the side, his mouth never closing from beginning to end.

What the hell?

What was this performance?

What was happening?

He didn’t get it, but he was greatly shocked.

He didn’t even bother to coax the little lover next to him, who was in a temper after being ignored. As he discreetly scooted closer to He Chuzhou, his elbow accidentally nudged a cell phone on the couch and its screen lit up.

—-His baffled shock increased once more.

“Y-y-y-you two…..?”

Such was his shock that he temporarily lost the ability to speak. He picked up the phone, pointed at the screen, and asked He Chuzhou: “T-t-t-this? ? ?”

He Chuzhou took some time out of his busy schedule to look over. The curve of his lips deepened, and when he opened his mouth, his voice was obnoxiously boastful: “What, isn’t he cute?”

When he saw this after getting up that morning, he almost died from the cuteness.

Pei-calico didn’t know how to take selfies, but with a face blessed by the heavens, why would he need any selfie skills? With just a random shot, he was like an immortal descending from the sky.

Under the bright light, although there was no smile on that cold and aloof face, when paired with an unpracticed V sign he was holding up, he was cute enough to make He Chuzhou a complete mess.

It was a pity that Wu Qing didn’t seem to think so.

He looked at He Chuzou, then at Pei Xi, and his entire face uniformly twitched: “Cute? Where is he cute?”

“And how is ‘cute’ the point of focus? ? ?”

But it was indeed He Chuzhou’s point of focus.

“He can’t be cute?” He Chuzhou couldn’t help but frown.

Couldn’t this be called cute?

It wasn’t just the photo. He even felt that Pei-calico exuded unrestrained cuteness at all times.

Cute when eating and cute when sleeping.

Cute when happy and cute when unhappy.

As soon as he woke up, he cutely called him, and made him a cute sandwich that didn’t look or taste good.

Even when he woke up in the morning and kicked him angrily, it was a cute kind of violence.

“There is something wrong with your eyes.”

After a show of thinking, he came to a conclusion: “Go to your cousin’s place for eye treatment when you have the time.”

Wu Qing: “? ?”

Wu Qing: “There’s something wrong with my eyes? You’re crazy, I see that yours aren’t working right.”

Wu Qing: “Ai, what the hell, my cousin treats the brain, not the eyes.”

He Chuzhou didn’t care whether or not his cousin could cure his eyes. There were a lot of bones and peeled shrimp shells under his hands, and when he saw that this person was finished eating, he removed his gloves and withdrew with him.

Wu Qing was entirely dumbfounded.

This rude fellow invited that person here for dinner?

Not even to drink!

What was this, he hadn’t even asked anything yet, so why did he run away?!

*

*

“Do you want some milk tea?”

Just around a left turn not far from the bar, there was a milk tea shop that they had to pass in order to reach the parking lot.

“You just ate so much spicy and salty food, how about balancing it out with something sweet.”

Pei Xi thought for a moment, then agreed. Just as he was about to walk to the milk tea shop, he was stopped by He Chuzhou: “There are too many people. I’ll stand in line, you go and wait for me in the car.”

Pei Xi visually inspected the parking lot that was still some distance away and didn’t want to walk that far alone: “Can I wait here?”

“That’s fine, I’ll be right back.”

He Chuzhou moved him away from the insect-attracting street lamp and turned toward the milk tea shop.

The store was very small, and the staff were very young. Those waiting in line were also young girls, holding hands and chattering about girly things.

In this instance, a man’s appearance seemed rather abrupt, easily attracting the attention of the people around.

To say nothing of his clothing and temperament, he looked very out of tune with everything around him. Rather than queuing up to buy a sweet drink with too much sugar, it seemed more suitable for him to hold champagne while talking and laughing with people in a banquet hall.

But here he was.

He was not conscious of being surrounded by a bunch of amazed young girls, and calmly asked about the ordering steps before scanning the code and choosing carefully.

In the end, he got stuck on the confirmation option, undecided between 30% sugar, 50% sugar, 70% sugar, or 100% sugar.

“This one tastes better when it’s sweeter.”

A young girl with short hair boldly spoke to him: “If you like sweets, you should choose full sugar or 70% sugar.”

The man smiled mildly and thanked her.

With reddened ears, the young girl had just said “you’re welcome” when she saw the man tell the clerk “wait a minute” and walk down the stairs toward the roadside.

Only then did she realize that there was a student-looking boy standing there.

The distance blurred his face, but it was still difficult to hide his breathtaking aura. It was just that his figure was slender, and exceptionally slender compared to the man. 

The two exchanged a few brief words.

Before leaving, the man leaned down to help the student put on the hood of his coat, then carefully arranged the brim of the wool hat to block the cool breeze passing by on the street.

“Full sugar, room temperature, please.”

When the man returned, he placed the order again and paid. The moment before he turned off his phone after successful payment and left, a wallpaper of the student outside flashed.

The young girl looked at the man, then at the student waiting by the roadside. The warmth on her ears receded, but her eyes were a few degrees brighter than before.

The nighttime encounter was brief.

As soon as his milk tea was ready, he left with the packaging bag.

While her friend was still praising the man’s appearance, she turned to watch as the man took the milk tea out of the bag, inserted a straw, and handed it to the student.

Then the two walked toward the parking lot in the opposite direction from her.

There were not many vehicles that night, and the streets were quiet.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, with their elongated shadows moving neither fast nor slow, they held hands from beginning to end.

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Chapter 19 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 21