After Pei Xi spoke, he realized he had said the wrong thing.

He “couldn’t remember” what happened when he was braid-addled. He shouldn’t have known that they went to the supermarket together the day before, let alone that he’d bought jello there.

As expected, He Chuzhou was silent for a long time on the other end of the line: “How did you—”

“Is it difficult to guess?”

Pei Xi made a preemptive strike: “There’s obviously a large supermarket opposite the community gate. If I didn’t buy it there, wouldn’t I have to travel a long way?”

“These weren’t at home before yesterday. Since they’re here today, they must have been bought yesterday. It’s impossible for you to have gone out and bought so many things before going to work.”

“Even if I didn’t buy them from the supermarket, if I go there and buy something else and ask them to give me an extra spoon at checkout, they won’t refuse.”

He spoke logically and meticulously, blocking off all avenues of suspicion. He Chuzhou had no chance to interrupt.

When he finished speaking, the phone was strangely silent for a few seconds.

After a long moment, He Chuzhou said leisurely: “I just wanted to say, why go to the supermarket to get one? There are plenty small spoons to eat jello with at home.”

Pei Xi: …..

Pei Xi: ……..

He Chuzhou seemed to be suppressing a smile: “Now that it’s not on your way, will you still send the document to me?”

Pei Xi drew in a deep breath. He opened the study door and asked stiffly: “Where is the document?”

He Chuzhou’s tone rose: “In the left hand drawer, you’ll see it when you open it. My office is on the top floor. I’ll go down to pick you up when you get here?”

Pei Xi opened the drawer and found the file: “No need.”

He Chuzhou: “You can come up yourself. I’ll tell the front desk staff soon to send you to the elevator when you arrive.”

Pei Xi hung up the phone.

He Chuzhou listened to the dial tone and looked at the interface that had jumped back to the address book. Finally, he couldn’t hold back his laugh.

At home, at home he’d said.

He savored the words spoken by Pei Xi, unable to keep his lips from rising.

Ai, it was nothing specific, ah.

So why did it sound so pleasant from Pei Xinxin’s mouth?

*

*

There was more than one vehicle in He Chuzhou’s garage, and he told Pei Xi where the keys were so that he could drive them as he pleased.

Between driving and taking a taxi, Pei Xi chose the latter without hesitation.

He didn’t know how the parking spaces on the basement floor of the He Group building were allocated. Parking in an unfamiliar place was too troublesome, so taking a taxi was more convenient.

The front desk knew of him and greeted him in advance, attentively taking him to the elevator as soon as he arrived.

It was just that the elevator card wasn’t authorized for the special elevator, and he wasn’t the only one waiting outside the general one.

A man and a woman were holding computers as they chatted behind Pei Xi.

“Did you hear that President He brought someone home?”

“What kind of person?”

“What kind? What do you mean, what kind? Of course it’s a little lover, ah. According to my friend at the upper levels, President He dotes on him so much that he always has him with him during video conferences. If he’s hungry or thirsty at one moment or another, he’ll spread dog food in public.”

“Oh, no wonder he didn’t come work at the company yesterday.”

President He’s little lover standing in front of them: “……”

The elevator arrived. Pei Xi entered first as soon as it opened, as the two behind him chatted animatedly. They came in and pressed a button, then turned their backs to him and continued gossiping.

“But isn’t President He in a relationship with that person? There was such a commotion over it, so why is there another little lover now?”

That person?

Pei Xi wasn’t taking their nonsense seriously at all, but he was stunned when he heard this.

He Chuzhou was in a relationship?

Who was he dating?

Why wasn’t he aware at all?

“Ai, do you not understand the world of wealthy people or are you pretending not to understand? Besides, can a boyfriend and a little lover be the same?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, President He isn’t that kind of person.”

“That kind of person? It’s normal for grown men to have some fun. Besides, those willing to give and take are young and romantic. I don’t believe that person doesn’t know. He must have acquiesced.”

“Did they see what that little lover looked like?”

“No, ah. President He hid him well, he never showed his face. Not even a finger could be seen.”

“Then how do you know it was his little lover and not the empress?”

“How could that be…..”

Pei Xi closed his eyes forcefully. Inexplicable anger surged through his chest, and a strong astringency went straight to his nose.

He Chuzhou had a boyfriend?

Who was it, and why had he never seen him?

Since he already had a boyfriend, why was he so comfortable playing the part of Pei Xi’s other half when he was brain-addled? Why had he still let him move in?

He shouldn’t have agreed to move in so easily. After delivering the document, he would immediately go back and pack—

“What is President Pei’s identity? He’s not one of those young boys who serve others for sex. How is it possible for him to act cutesy when President He is taking care of business?”

“Yes, President Pei should have been working at that time.”

Pei Xi: “……”

The roller coaster plummeted from its apex, and the swell of anger extinguished with a pop.

His breathing stopped for a moment, and the astringent feeling in his nose reminded him of his inexplicable near-emotional collapse just now. 

In the end, he was the one who benefitted. He Chuzhou had the freedom to fall in love, so why would he be angry? 

“According to what you said, does that mean—”

The man’s voice cut off abruptly the second he raised his head.

The gleaming elevator walls reflected a clear image of the elevator’s interior, and he happened to meet a cold, indifferent gaze from outside.

“……”

“……….”

Pei Xi wasn’t wearing formal attire, and the casual clothes gave him the appearance of a new intern who hadn’t yet graduated. This was the main reason that the two of them hadn’t noticed him right away.

But once he noticed, he was frightened to death.

The man swallowed hard and stiffly nudged the arm of the woman next to him. The woman asked what he was doing and raised her head.

“……”

The two of them stared foolishly and even forgot to turn back toward one another. With difficulty, they called out to the reflection on the wall: “…..P-President Pei.”

Pei Xi gave an indifferent hum just as the elevator door opened. Seeing that the two were still standing there foolishly, Pei Xi reminded them: “This is your stop.”

“Ah?”

“Oh, oh, it is, it is.”

After two or three scrambling steps, they didn’t dare to leave even once they were out. They turned their heads and stood up straight at the door like two doormen, watching the elevator door close.

“It’s over…..”

“My career has come to an end…..”

“I just saw dog hair on President Pei’s clothes. Doesn’t President He have a dog in the family?”

“I already said he’s the empress……”

“……”

“We’re dead, we’re dead…..”

Pei Xi went to the top floor and directly to He Chuzhou’s office, then set down the documents and went to leave.

He Chuzhou was absolutely dumbfounded, and quickly stood up: “No way, you won’t even have a sip of water? You’re in that much of a hurry?”

Pei Xi: “I’m not thirsty.”

He Chuzhou: “Aren’t you tired from coming all the way here? Won’t you sit down and rest for a while?”

Pei Xi said seriously: “This isn’t my destination.”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Why did he feel like he’d received a piece of wagyu beef for his hotpot, but when he picked it up and bit into it, it was frozen?

With a helpless sigh, he picked up the elevator card: “Let’s go, I’ll take you down.”

Pei Xi refused: “I can go down by myself.”

He Chuzhou: “It’s on my way. I’m going to the front desk for a bottle of water.”

They descended in the special elevator to the ground floor lobby. He Chuzhou casually took a bottle of mineral water from the front desk, put Pei Xi in the car, and told him that if he was bored, he could go to the supermarket and buy what he wanted to eat in the evening. He would cook it when he got back.

Pei Xi nodded and asked him if he was going to have a meeting later.

He Chuzhou nodded. “There’s a meeting, why?”

Pei Xi said quietly: “Lock the door tightly. Don’t let random people come in and disturb you.”

Although He Chuzhou didn’t understand his reasoning, he still agreed.

He watched the taxi depart until he could no longer see it, then rubbed his nose and turned back.

The receptionist poked her head out from behind the computer and began to type with joy:

[President Pei was here for some spice!]

[President Pei came and went!]

[President He was very sad when he walked him to the car. He looked like a big dog that had been wagging its tail for a long time without being petted~]

[Ah, so cute!]

*

*

Pei Xi didn’t know how to buy groceries.

To put it shamefully, he couldn’t tell the difference between many similar-looking vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage and baby cabbage, or leeks and garlic sprouts.

He was unable to tell which raw materials He Chuzhou had used to cook for him before, and was too embarrassed to call him and specifically ask. Thus, he could only deliberate slowly based on his intuition. He brought a lot home in the end.

Of course, when he checked out, he didn’t forget to ask the cashier to give him a plastic spoon for eating the jello when he got back.

As a result, He Chuzhou returned from work in the evening to see that the bunch of vegetables he’d bought were difficult to use together, as well as mushrooms that had been pre-soaked in water and ended up spilling all over the floor. He almost couldn’t contain himself.

Pei Xi frowned: “I only soaked enough for the two of us. Their expansion was out of control.”

“It’s no big deal. They would have expanded out of my control too.”

In order to save some face for him, He Chuzhou tried his utmost not to laugh. After cleaning up the overflowing mushrooms, he turned his attention to the huge sack of vegetables.

“You like fried pork with bell peppers, right? Then you need to buy bell peppers, ah. These small peppers are too spicy and can only be used in condiments.”

“Crucian carp is good, but sweet and sour fish generally isn’t made with them. You can try making this fish into a salad or a crucian carp soup.”

“This is okay, is it? How do you want to eat the okra? I didn’t make it since I didn’t think you’d eat it, but it turns out you like it? 

Unexpectedly, Pei Xi was confused: “You didn’t?”

He Chuzhou: “Did I? No, I haven’t even bought them…..hiss, wait, are you talking about the hot tigerskin green pepper dish?”

Pei Xi: “…..I didn’t taste any spiciness.”

He Chuzhou: “I was afraid you didn’t know how to eat spicy food, so I took special care with it.

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou: “……”

Since none of the vegetables Pei Xi had gone home were something he really wanted to eat, the two of them went to the supermarket again.

This time, He Chuzhou was in charge of the precise selections and taught Pei Xi: “The tigerskin pepper dish is made with this kind of pepper, and this kind of young ginger is used for stir-fried pork with ginger, not the old ginger you bought. You can use regular carp, mandarin fish, grass carp, and koi carp for sweet and sour fish…..”

Pei Xi listened intently, silently jotting down mental notes.

He was dressed too much like a young, energetic university student today, and his posture made it seem like he was practicing looking upper-class. From time to time, he would pick up a bunch of vegetables and study them carefully. His face was so tender that water could be squeezed from it, and He Chuzhou’s heart melted at the sight.

“You really want to learn how to cook, ah?” he asked.

After some thought, Pei Xi nodded. His cooking skills were very poor. Almost non-existent. He could freeload off He Chuzhou now, but he would be on his own in the future.

At this thought, he happened to recall the question Pei-calico had asked, and the answer He Chuzhou gave him.

—I don’t want to learn, can you keep cooking for me?

—Of course.

Was he simply trying to coax him into behaving, or…..”

“Okay!” He Chuzhou said, easy-mannered. “I’ll pick a suitable time to teach you later. Which dish do you want to learn, braised pork ribs or sweet and sour fish?”

Pei Xi’s distantly stunned look vanished and he picked up the bag, turning around to leave.

“What’s wrong? Why are you unhappy?”

He Chuzhou followed at once: “You don’t want to learn those? Then how about something else?”

“How about I teach you something simple, like steamed crab?”

“Be careful, there’s water on the ground ahead…..”

When checking out, Pei Xi carefully observed each cashier channel and made sure that the auntie who cashed them out yesterday wasn’t there before letting He Chuzhou choose as he pleased.

Think of the thing you’re afraid of, and it will come. A few steps out of the supermarket, they ran into that auntie, who was coming in for a shift change.

Pei Xi took a deep, silent breath. He slowed down and prayed that the aunt wouldn’t recognize them and would pass them by.

The auntie: “Ai! It’s you, ah, young man!”

Pei Xi: “……”

When he saw her shift her gaze from Pei Xi to He Chuzhou, his heart was on tenterhooks and he quickly listed countless responses he could give without giving himself away.

Little did he know that the situation of the other person wasn’t much better than his.

He Chuzhou had completely forgotten about this incident at first, but how that they’d met the enemy on a narrow road, he felt like they were Spartans.

The auntie said with a smile: “You went to the supermarket with your husband again, ah.”

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou: “……”

“Ah, yes! What a coincidence, Auntie!”

He Chuzhou was the first to react: “Do you live around here? So do we, are you going to work? No wonder I just said I didn’t see you. You must be busy, so we won’t take up your time. See you here next time!”

He said his hellos and goodbyes in one breath and forcibly sent the dazed auntie away before turning to face Pei Xi.

Pei Xi’s Adam’s apple bobbed: “She……”

“That cashier met us yesterday.” He Chuzhou intercepted his words in a timely manner. “She said we look alike, so I casually said I’m your big brother.”^[1]

Pei Xi was silent for a moment, and his tone was a bit strange when he said: “Big brother?”

“Yes, ah.” He Chuzhou found an opening and began spewing nonsense in an earnest manner: “She just asked if you went to the supermarket with your big brother, did you not hear clearly?”

Pei Xi nodded, accepting this explanation. Without asking further questions, he turned around and began to walk.

He Chuzhou breathed an inward sigh of relief and wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.

It was a close call, but fortune smiled upon him and he reacted quickly.

And as he turned around, Pei Xi closed his eyes in relief and finally let his dangling heart drop.

That was a close call. But fortune smiled upon him and He Chuzhou reacted quickly.

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T/N: Sorry for the wait on this one, guys. I’m a couple chapters ahead on the other two ongoing stories, but behind on this one. I’m the Maid of Honor at my best friend’s wedding, which is in two weeks, so…..responsibilities!

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[1] So the wordplay here is that “husband” (Lǎogōng, 老公) and “big brother/dude/bro” (Lǎoxiōng, 老兄) are pronounced so similarly that one could have been mistaken for the other. ⮐

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Chapter 34 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 36