ASFSODS 80

As the weather gradually warmed up, Wen Chi took a few new short-sleeve shirts from the drying rack on the balcony. The clothes carried the faint scent of laundry detergent. He looked over at Zhou Ruoyao, who was sitting on the sofa playing on his phone, and asked, “What should we have for lunch? Should we order takeout?”

“That works. Xiao Chi, just order whatever you want. I’m not picky,” Zhou Ruoyao said, practically making himself at home. After a short time, he was lying down and continuing to play on his phone.

Wen Chi nodded. “Alright.”

Zhou Ruoyao arrived about an hour ago. Wen Chi had just woken up and was getting ready to order breakfast when Zhou Ruoyao called, saying he was coming to visit and asking if Wen Chi could come over to his house.

The last time Zhou Ruoyao had wanted to have a meal with Wen Chi, of course, Wen Chi agreed. He even asked Zhou Ruoyao if he had already had breakfast and was planning to order takeout.

Zhou Ruoyao had replied, “Xiao Chi, haven’t you eaten yet? If you want something, I can buy it for you. I’ll get it faster than the takeout.”

Not one to be polite, Wen Chi let Zhou Ruoyao go downstairs to a place called Meimei Breakfast Shop to pick up two vegetable baozi and a sticky rice chicken for him. However, Zhou Ruoyao, worried Wen Chi wouldn’t be full, came back with a large bag of breakfast. In addition to what Wen Chi had asked for, the young master also bought other types of baozi and a few boxes of milk and soy milk.

As soon as Zhou Ruoyao saw Wen Chi come out of the room, he immediately sat up and asked, “Xiao Chi, do you know where the final episode of the variety show is being filmed?”

Wen Chi replied, “I don’t know.”

Zhou Ruoyao responded with a simple “Oh,” adding, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know either. Besides, I’m not sure if it will even be filmed. When I saw the director the other day, his face was so dark it looked like ink was going to drip from it.”

Wen Chi let out an awkward laugh. “Haha, really?” He thought Ma Chuanbo was probably upset with him and Jiang Siheng, because when Ma Chuanbo left that day, his face was already black.

“By the way, Xiao Chi, can I ask you something?” Zhou Ruoyao suddenly became serious.

“Go ahead.”

Zhou Ruoyao’s tone shifted to a more serious one. “You and… that guy… are you planning to make your relationship public? Actually, now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem like there’s any problem with you two going public. After all, the show is a dating variety show, so it’s perfectly normal for people to fall in love on a show like that.”

It seemed like Zhou Ruoyao really disliked Jiang Siheng. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have referred to him as “that guy” instead of his name.

Wen Chi, thinking of something, also had a question for Zhou Ruoyao. “Why don’t you like Jiang Siheng?”

If Wen Chi remembered correctly, Zhou Ruoyao had shown clear signs of not liking Jiang Siheng ever since joining the show. However, it wasn’t hatred—it was more like the innocent dislike kids sometimes feel for someone they don’t get along with, without any malicious intent.

Zhou Ruoyao didn’t hold back and directly said, “Because he’s the only one on the show who’s really close to you.”

“Huh?”

Zhou Ruoyao continued, “I just don’t like him.”

Wen Chi nodded. “Okay.” Then, he asked, “So why do you like me?”

Zhou Ruoyao froze for a moment, then quickly waved his hand. “I like you, but not… in that way. My liking is pure, unlike that old bastard Jiang Siheng.”

While praising himself, he didn’t forget to take a jab at Jiang Siheng. Truly, a young master.

“I don’t mean it like that, don’t panic.” Wen Chi raised his hand to gesture. “What I’m asking is, I’m not famous, and I haven’t played any well-known roles. So, theoretically, you wouldn’t have known about me before. How did you…”

“I know!” Zhou Ruoyao interrupted Wen Chi before he could finish. He proudly declared, “Of course I know you, Xiao Chi!”

Wen Chi froze for a moment. “What?”

Zhou Ruoyao looked at Wen Chi seriously and said, “Actually, I saw you four years ago.”

It sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s something that really happened to Zhou Ruoyao. At that time, Zhou Ruoyao was studying abroad and came back for the holidays. Since he didn’t have many friends here, even if people were willing to hang out with him, it was mostly because of his status as the young master of the Zhou family. Zhou Ruoyao didn’t like hanging out with those people; he would rather stay home by himself, playing games and watching movies.

One day, he found out his Dad was going on a business trip to another city for a few days. Zhou Ruoyao immediately stuck to him, saying he wanted to go along. At first, Father Zhou didn’t want him to come, but Mother Zhou was getting fed up seeing her son cooped up at home all the time, so she insisted that her husband take him along.

Still, the 18-year-old high school student, Zhou Ruoyao, immediately promised, “I guarantee I won’t disturb your work. I can go out and wander by myself.”

Since his wife and child both said so, Father Zhou had no choice but to bring him along.

And the city his father was traveling to just happened to be the place where Wen Chi grew up.

When Wen Chi heard this, he paused, “But I don’t remember seeing you.”

Zhou Ruoyao wasn’t the kind of person who would be forgotten after just one glance. If Wen Chi had seen him, he would have remembered him.

Zhou Ruoyao wasn’t upset or sad upon hearing this; instead, he felt a little relieved and said, “It’s better that you don’t remember. If you did, I’d be too embarrassed to face you.”

Wen Chi asked, “Huh?”

Zhou Ruoyao remembered the time when someone threw a plate of food on him—he was dirty and ugly. He even got into a fight with the person who threw food at him… it was just a mess, completely unfit for the image of a young master in Wen Chi’s mind.

Seeing that Zhou Ruoyao didn’t want to talk further, Wen Chi stopped asking and answered the question Zhou Ruoyao had asked him earlier. “We’re not planning to go public yet.”

“Not planning to go public? Does Jiang Siheng not want to go public?” Zhou Ruoyao instinctively assumed it was Jiang Siheng who didn’t want to make it public. This wasn’t surprising. In the entertainment industry, when a couple of celebrities start dating, the one with the higher status usually doesn’t want to go public because they fear losing fans and causing their popularity to plummet. Some brand deals even cancel collaborations once they find out a celebrity is in a relationship.

“It’s not that. I don’t want to go public,” Wen Chi smiled.

Zhou Ruoyao was surprised. He had never thought it would be Wen Chi who didn’t want to go public. He asked, “Did he agree to that?”

“He did,” Wen Chi answered. Then he recalled Jiang Siheng’s somewhat reluctant expression back then and couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhou Ruoyao nodded. “Got it.”

…

As noon approached, Wen Chi thought he would check for some takeout options. When Zhou Ruoyao saw him open the food delivery app, he immediately pressed down on Wen Chi’s hand. “Xiao Chi, are you really going to order takeout?”

Wen Chi looked at Zhou Ruoyao in confusion. “What’s wrong with that?”

Zhou Ruoyao waved his hand dramatically. “Why order takeout when I’m here? Let’s go, we’ll have hot pot!”

Wen Chi, who had lived here for so long, had already tried all the nearby restaurants. “The hot pot around here isn’t good. I’ve had bad experiences with it.”

Zhou Ruoyao said, “Then let’s go somewhere else.”

Wen Chi reminded him, “I don’t have a car.”

Zhou Ruoyao replied, “No problem, I do.”

Since Zhou Ruoyao was the guest, Wen Chi had no choice but to prioritize his wishes. Since Zhou Ruoyao wanted to go out for a hot pot, Wen Chi went back to his room to change clothes before heading out.

“Where did you park your car?” Wen Chi asked while changing his shoes.

“I don’t know,” Zhou Ruoyao said.

Wen Chi: “?”

Zhou Ruoyao added, “I need to ask my family’s driver where it’s parked.”

Wen Chi paused, then realized that Zhou Ruoyao meant he didn’t have his own car, but his family’s driver did.

Wen Chi couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright then.”

Zhou Ruoyao, seeing Wen Chi changing his shoes, suddenly raised his phone and took a picture. Wen Chi heard the sound and looked up, confused.

Zhou Ruoyao said, “I’m just taking a screenshot.”

“Oh, let’s go.”

“Mm-hmm.” Zhou Ruoyao walked beside Wen Chi as they entered the elevator. He opened a chat on WeChat and sent the photo he had just taken.

It wasn’t until they arrived at the hot pot restaurant that Zhou Ruoyao finally received a reply.

He looked at the question mark sent by Jiang Siheng and gritted his teeth, then sent a very smug message: [I’m having hot pot with Xiao Chi.]

He had thought Jiang Siheng would be jealous or envious of him having hot pot with Wen Chi alone, but to his surprise, after waiting for a long time, Jiang Siheng didn’t respond.

While waiting for Jiang Siheng’s reply, Wen Chi’s phone screen suddenly lit up with a new message.

Wen Chi, who was making his own dipping sauce, saw the notification. He calmly finished pouring in the sesame paste, wiped his hands, and then picked up the phone.

He swiped the screen and saw the message from Jiang Siheng.

【A-Heng [heart]: Are you having hot pot with Zhou Ruoyao?】

Wen Chi saw the message and thought that Jiang Siheng was also there. He subconsciously glanced around, but didn’t see Jiang Siheng anywhere.

【Wen Chi: How did you know?】

【A-Heng [heart]: Zhou Ruoyao told me.】

【A-Heng [heart]: He even sent me a photo of you and was showing off how you’re having hot pot alone with him.】

【Wen Chi: …】

Wen Chi glanced over at Zhou Ruoyao, who was busy playing with his phone, and couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

【Wen Chi: He came to hang out with me, then we just decided to go out for a meal.】

【A-Heng [heart]: Did he leave after eating?】

【Wen Chi: I don’t know [cute bunny.jpg]】

【A-Heng [heart]: T.T】

Wen Chi found it a little amusing that Jiang Siheng was sending him such an emoticon. Just then, the waiter brought over the meat and vegetables. Now, all Wen Chi could see was food, food, and more food. He sent Jiang Siheng a kissing emoji, pressed the phone off to the side, and decided not to check for new messages. He would eat first.

…

Jiang Siheng saw that Wen Chi hadn’t replied and, without having to guess, knew that the boy had probably started eating.

“Xiao Heng, I’m talking to you, are you listening to your mother?” Cheng Yazhe had said a lot, but didn’t get a response from her son. When she turned to look, she saw that Jiang Siheng was staring at his phone.

Jiang Siheng looked at his phone and replied, “I heard you, but it’s not possible.”

“Why?” Cheng Yazhe didn’t understand. “This isn’t an unreasonable request. I just want to have a meal with Xiao Chi. He’s been through so much because of you. As his boyfriend, don’t you feel any sympathy for him?”

Seeing that Cheng Yazhe was making more of a fuss, Jiang Siheng had no choice but to interrupt, “If it’s about the meal, I’ll ask him. As for getting married and holding a wedding… isn’t that a bit too soon?”

Cheng Yazhe responded with a surprised sound, “Did I say anything about that?”

Jiang Lixiao turned a page of the newspaper and said, “You did. You even mentioned where the wedding would be held and whether it should be traditional or Western style.”

Cheng Yazhe was caught off guard by her husband and son’s remarks, and waved her hand in resignation. “Fine, I’m just afraid that Wen Chi will run away.”

Jiang Siheng looked down at the photo Wen Chi had sent and a faint smile appeared in his eyes. He began typing a reply while saying, “He won’t run away.”