Trouble was trouble. Right now, all Xi Yu wanted was to take Lu Zhixing home and make sure he didn’t get sick.
Xi Yu and Yu Qian exchanged nods in greeting. Then he took Lu Zhixing by the hand and left the mess behind for Luo Cheng’an to deal with.
Lu Zhixing’s eyes drooped sadly as he let Xi Yu lead him away. When they reached the doorway, he turned back. His beautiful, dignified features lingered in everyone’s view.
Every single person had gotten a clear look at his face.
The center of attention had left the banquet hall, but Luo Cheng’an was still there, so nobody began discussing what had happened.
Luo Cheng’an smiled, though there wasn’t a trace of warmth in his eyes.
“My cousin has a habit of picking up strange forms of address from watching too much television. Even Brother Lu finds it rather exasperating. But his brain was damaged, so he doesn’t understand what those words mean. Just treat it as a joke and forget about it.”
Luo Cheng’an swept his gaze over the crowd, his eyes carrying a warning.
On the one hand, he wanted everyone to understand that Lu Zhixing knew this person. They shouldn’t think about making any underhanded moves behind his back. After all, Luo Cheng’an couldn’t exactly tell them that the person they’d just seen was Lu Zhixing himself.
On the other hand, he was warning them not to spread rumors.
Yu Qian summoned every ounce of acting skill she possessed to keep herself from looking flustered.
The expressions around the room varied. Shen Linchuan stepped forward and said teasingly, “Just a couple of days ago, Zhixing was telling me that Xi Yu’s cousin had recently picked up all sorts of strange forms of address from watching television. I asked him what he meant, but he wouldn’t tell me. So this is what he was talking about!”
Luo Cheng’an replied helplessly, “Exactly.”
Shen Linchuan and Luo Cheng’an played along with each other. Once the people around them caught on, some grew bold enough to make a few jokes, while others simply let the matter drop. Whether they truly believed the explanation was another question.
Xi Yu had left, and Luo Cheng’an had stepped in to smooth things over. Naturally, everyone’s attention now shifted to him.
Some people who had dealt with Luo Cheng’an before felt that he seemed like a completely different person these days.
His words just now had sounded casual, yet they carried an unmistakable threat.
The old Luo Cheng’an would never have acted this way.
Shen Qin, who had remained hidden in a corner, watched Luo Cheng’an’s flamboyant expression. The corners of his lips curled into a chilling smile.
*
In a corner of the banquet hall, Luo Cheng’an raised his glass toward Shen Linchuan.
“Thanks for helping me out just now.”
“It’s nothing,” Shen Linchuan replied. “I had my own reasons, too.”
He had helped Luo Cheng’an save face while also letting everyone know that he had connections with Lu Zhixing.
Although he hadn’t seen Lu Zhixing since Xiao Man had acknowledged her mother, he could claim to have a relationship with him. Who could prove otherwise?
He’d helped Xi Yu conceal the truth partly out of gratitude. But he was also a businessman. Having Lu Zhixing’s name behind him would make a great many things easier.
With Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing gone, Luo Cheng’an couldn’t very well leave the banquet halfway through. He stayed patiently, chatting intermittently with Shen Linchuan.
After a while, Yu Qian joined them. She wasn’t particularly interested in prying into other people’s private affairs, but this had happened at her event. More importantly, the couple she’d been shipping seemed to be heading for a breakup!
Yu Qian sat down beside Luo Cheng’an and asked ominously, “Who exactly was that little green-tea schemer just now?”
At the words green tea, Luo Cheng’an felt that she had hit the nail on the head.
Whether in the past or now, Zhixiao had always been exactly that sort of person.
In front of Luanxing, he acted so delicate and helpless that he could barely take care of himself. But with everyone else? That was an entirely different story.
Luo Cheng’an was certain that Zhixiao had deliberately called Xi Yu hubby twice just now.
He’d lost his memories, but apparently not a single bit of his cunning.
Luo Cheng’an gritted his teeth. “He really is my cousin.”
Fortunately, Lu Zhixing hadn’t quite driven Luo Cheng’an completely out of his mind. All he could do was swallow his anger and accept the situation.
Yu Qian eyed him suspiciously. Something about it just didn’t seem right.
Luo Cheng’an was Xi Yu’s younger brother—not by blood, but Xi Yu had protected him at every turn during the variety show. It was obvious how much Xi Yu cared for him.
Yet even Xi Yu hadn’t treated Luo Cheng’an with that degree of tenderness.
The embracing, the soothing words, and the way he’d bent down to put on the other man’s shoes… None of it looked remotely ordinary.
“He’s not quite right in the head.” Luo Cheng’an pointed at his own temple. “You noticed that too, didn’t you?”
Yu Qian nodded.
Lowering his voice, Luo Cheng’an continued, “It’s because of what happened to Xi Yu. Now you understand why Xi Yu indulges him so much, right?”
Shen Linchuan glanced over at them, an amused smile playing on his lips.
Yu Qian looked surprised. Then, lowering her voice conspiratorially, she asked, “What about Brother Lu, then? Xi Yu and Brother Lu haven’t broken up, have they?”
Luo Cheng’an ground his teeth. “They’re doing just fine.”
Yu Qian trusted Luo Cheng’an a great deal. Hearing him say that, she believed him completely.
Xiao Man had remained silent throughout. She winked at Shen Linchuan.
As a demon, Xiao Man could sense the spiritual energy on Lu Zhixing, but she hadn’t recognized that the beautiful young man she’d just seen was Lu Zhixing himself.
She didn’t understand the details, but she wasn’t the sort to gossip unnecessarily.
Shen Linchuan smiled at Xiao Man without saying a word.
The married couple could gossip to their hearts’ content once they got home and into bed that night.
After successfully fooling Yu Qian, Luo Cheng’an stood up, intending to go outside for some fresh air. That’s when he saw Shen Qin slowly approaching.
Luo Cheng’an’s expression immediately turned cold.
Shen Qin seemed oblivious to his hostility. He stepped in front of Luo Cheng’an, his voice low, carrying a strangely suggestive undertone.
“Senior, tonight’s wine is sweet too.”
Luo Cheng’an’s expression changed dramatically.
*
“Big brother, so sweet.”
The moment they entered the room, Lu Zhixing pinned Xi Yu against the door. His lips were entangled with Xi Yu’s, and he spoke indistinctly against his mouth as he caught Xi Yu’s tongue between his lips.
Lu Zhixing’s body was still cold. Xi Yu held him close, seemingly trying to transfer his own body heat to him.
“Stop kissing me,” Xi Yu said, dodging his lips. “Go take a bath first.”
That much accumulated cold was unbearable even for someone made of iron. Lu Zhixing’s normal body temperature had been only slightly lower than Xi Yu’s, but now he was so cold that he felt as though he’d just emerged from an ice cellar.
Lu Zhixing chased after Xi Yu’s lips, but Xi Yu kept dodging him.
His already uneasy and irritable emotions suddenly intensified. He gripped Xi Yu’s hand a little harder and looked at him with a wounded expression.
Xi Yu was already overwhelmed with guilt. One look from Lu Zhixing nearly made him surrender completely.
After hesitating for a moment, he coaxed him softly, “I’ll take a bath with you. After that, you can kiss me however you want, all right?”
Lu Zhixing blinked and slowly loosened his hold on Xi Yu.
“R-Really? Can I kiss you… there, too?”
The tips of Xi Yu’s ears turned a little red. Then he nodded gently.
………………..
Late that night.
At some point, a fine drizzle had begun to fall, making the air damp and humid.
The winter rain seemed capable of forcing its chill into every gap between one’s bones.
Jiang Xuewei parked the car and turned to look at Jiang Yunzheng.
“Brother.”
Two seconds passed, but Jiang Yunzheng remained sitting there in a daze.
Jiang Xuewei sighed and raised her voice.
“Brother! Get out of the car!”
Only then did Jiang Yunzheng come back to his senses. He answered distractedly, “Oh, oh. Getting out. Getting out.”
As soon as he stepped out of the car, he stared at the villa in front of him in surprise.
“Why are we here?”
Jiang Xuewei frowned slightly. “Grandpa asked us to pick up his tea cakes. Did you forget?”
Only then did Jiang Yunzheng remember. The banquet venue was close to this place, and their grandfather had mentioned that they should stop by and collect the things.
After Xi Yu had told him that they couldn’t see each other anymore, Jiang Yunzheng had moved out of this villa. However, the property was in an excellent location, and their grandfather liked it very much, so he had decided not to sell it. He kept it as a place to stay whenever he happened to be in the area.
Jiang Xuewei sometimes stayed there with him, but Jiang Yunzheng himself hadn’t spent a single night there since moving out.
His gaze instinctively drifted toward the part of the house where Xi Yu lived. Through the windows and heavy curtains, he could make out only a faint glow.
It was already past ten, yet Xi Yu was still awake.
Jiang Xuewei parked properly and pulled Jiang Yunzheng toward the entrance, saying, “Let’s stay here tonight. It’s raining, and I don’t feel like driving all the way back to the old house. I’ll tell Grandpa in a bit.”
Jiang Yunzheng paused, then nodded.
Xi Yu had said that there was no longer any danger and that they could see each other again.
When Jiang Yunzheng first heard this, he had been overjoyed. But the sudden appearance of that unfamiliar, beautiful young man had shattered his happiness into pieces.
In Jiang Yunzheng’s memory, Xi Yu’s gaze had always been distant and indifferent. Those bright, mesmerizing eyes were as dazzling as precious gemstones, yet so cold that no one could ever seem to reach him.
But the way Xi Yu had looked at that young man today had been so passionate that it seemed as though even an endless glacier could melt beneath his gaze.
There had been guilt, tenderness, and love that made no attempt to hide itself.
So Xi Yu could be this warm after all. A warmth that seemed capable of driving away every shadow and every trace of dampness.
His intuition told him that the unfamiliar young man was Lu Zhixing.
It was an unbelievable conclusion, yet Jiang Yunzheng was inexplicably certain of it. He had no concrete evidence whatsoever, but somehow, he simply knew.
Was this what Xi Yu had meant when he said there was no longer any danger?
Lu Zhixing had changed his appearance so completely that it seemed no one could recognize him anymore.
Had he lost his memories?
Or had he become… someone whose mind wasn’t quite right?
No, that wasn’t entirely it. The way Lu Zhixing had held Xi Yu and looked at Jiang Yunzheng had immediately reminded him of that night—the hand that had once clamped around his throat.
The hatred. The jealousy.
They were the same emotions he had seen in the unfamiliar young man’s eyes tonight.
After washing up, Jiang Yunzheng still couldn’t resist quietly opening the floor-to-ceiling window and stepping onto the balcony. He stood there, looking somewhat lost.
If he were to say that he was suffering terribly, that wouldn’t really be true. He hadn’t known Xi Yu for very long. He had only recently realized that he liked him.
Perhaps Xi Yu was simply too dazzling. He had never even considered that he might one day be together with someone like him.
But that very brilliance was also why, once Jiang Yunzheng had fallen for him, he couldn’t help wanting to see him again and again.
Looking at the empty balcony, Jiang Yunzheng felt as though there were a hole in his heart, leaving him with a persistent sense of emptiness that he couldn’t quite fill.
He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he thought he could faintly hear a few soft, catlike cries. They were low and enticing.
And in the room barely half a zhang away, a slender, delicate leg dangled in midair. A drop of water slid down the ankle and along the pointed, extended foot before falling onto the dark green bedsheet, leaving a small, damp patch.
Looking farther up, a large hand, its veins prominently raised, supported the hollow behind the flushed knee. Resting lightly on top of it was another hand, slightly smaller, its knuckles tinged pink.