Chapter 43 – Eating Dinner or Eating Me?

At eight o’clock in the evening, Ye Zhou left the restaurant on time, not forgetting to take two bags of fresh ingredients he had picked out during the afternoon’s delivery.

It was a bit late for dinner at this hour, but since he had made plans with Guan Heng that morning, he was now hurrying home to cook. Shopping at the supermarket after work would have been too slow and the produce wouldn’t have been fresh, so Ye Zhou took advantage of the ingredients available at the restaurant, paying the wholesale price from his own pocket. Guan Heng wasn’t a light eater, and Ye Zhou even considered ordering more when restocking in the future. That way, the food would be fresher and cheaper, and he could save time shopping.

As Ye Zhou walked down the street toward home, he happened to run into Guan Heng coming from the opposite direction. The two quickly met up outside their homes. Seeing Guan Heng, Ye Zhou broke into a smile but then looked slightly troubled. “You’re finished with your work? So soon, but I haven’t had time to start cooking yet.”

Guan Heng approached Ye Zhou, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to ruffle his hair. “Don’t rush, take your time.”

Ye Zhou: “? ? ?”

Guan Heng rarely did such intimate gestures in public, and Ye Zhou was a little stunned, but after a moment, he didn’t think much of it and smiled. “Alright, let’s go inside first.”

Ye Zhou still had both hands full with the bags, so he couldn’t open the door. Guan Heng took one of the bags from him and pulled out his keys to unlock the door.

Ye Zhou naturally headed towards his own house, but Guan Heng stopped him. Once they were in the courtyard, Guan Heng, as if back in his own territory, put his arm around Ye Zhou’s shoulders and led him in the opposite direction. “Let’s cook at my place.”

Ye Zhou glanced at Guan Heng but didn’t object, only asking, “Do you have enough condiments and dishes there?”

“Take a look?”

“Okay.”

Ye Zhou was perceptive in some ways, especially when it came to Guan Heng. He noticed that Guan Heng had said “my place,” not “my house,” as if the two villas were no longer separate entities. This indicated that Guan Heng had included Ye Zhou, along with his belongings, within his own domain. Although they lived next door to each other, in a certain sense, they were already cohabiting.

Is this… moving a little too fast…

Ye Zhou thought distractedly, but overall, he felt elated.

Taking advantage of Ye Zhou’s daze, Guan Heng touched his head again, his long fingers threading through his hair and slowly stroking his scalp. “What are you thinking about?”

“N-nothing.” Guan Heng was too close, his breath blowing on Ye Zhou’s ear. Ye Zhou shrank his neck slightly, sensitive to the touch, and instantly snapped back to reality, beginning to rummage through the contents of Guan Heng’s refrigerator and cabinets.

Guan Heng’s kitchen… was almost empty. Aside from the basic necessities like salt, sugar, and soy sauce, there was nothing else.

Ye Zhou froze, unsure of how to react. But before Ye Zhou could ask, Guan Heng spoke up. “What else do we need? I’ll go next door to get it.”

“Mmm…” Ye Zhou tactfully mentioned a few items essential for tonight’s dishes.

“Alright.”

Then, Ye Zhou naturally handed over the key to his own house. After Guan Heng took the key, Ye Zhou realized belatedly that perhaps he should give Guan Heng a spare set.

While Guan Heng went to fetch things, Ye Zhou started washing rice to cook, then took out the knives to wash and chop vegetables. More complex tasks, like preparing fish, Ye Zhou had already handled at the restaurant. Tonight, he had brought back a plump yellow croaker, intending to steam it with ginger and scallions. After slicing the ginger and chopping the scallions into thin strips, he placed them on a plate with the fish, drizzled on the steamed fish soy sauce Guan Heng had fetched, and put everything into the pot to steam over high heat. Then, using another pot, he quickly stir-fried several dishes. Ye Zhou was accustomed to cooking, and his actions might seem rushed to others, one movement flowing seamlessly into the next. But in reality, he had mentally rehearsed the steps for each dish beforehand, proceeding in a systematic manner.

When Ye Zhou was in the kitchen, he was utterly focused, able to block out everything around him. At this moment, wearing Guan Heng’s dark blue apron, the ties tightly bound behind his waist, he revealed a lean and muscular upper body and a slender waist. His round, firm buttocks were a sight for sore eyes.

Guan Heng stood behind him for a while, watching. Ye Zhou was actually very charming when cooking, his passion for culinary arts making him radiate a warm and dazzling glow.

After Ye Zhou turned off the stove, before he could transfer the dishes to the table, Guan Heng suddenly stepped forward and hugged him from behind, reaching out to touch his ass.

Ye Zhou: “…”

Ye Zhou wasn’t frightened by Guan Heng’s sudden closeness, but this touch was too suggestive, hard for him not to indulge in wild thoughts. Did Guan Heng want to have sex? But they hadn’t eaten yet. And it had only been a day since last time, was his libido really that high…

But Guan Heng merely touched him once and then withdrew his hand, turning his head to kiss Ye Zhou’s ear.

Only then did Ye Zhou notice that Guan Heng’s scent today wasn’t that pleasant woody fragrance. It was still plant-based, but seemed a bit colder, giving off an air of aloofness.

Then, Guan Heng’s deep, sexy voice sounded in his ear. “Kiss me.”

Ye Zhou couldn’t resist when Guan Heng spoke in that alluring tone. He could clearly hear the unyielding note in Guan Heng’s voice, but the way Guan Heng held him made Ye Zhou feel as if he was being seduced and teased, similar to the last time Guan Heng had asked him to comfort him. Ye Zhou didn’t know what had happened to Guan Heng today, but he knew that Guan Heng was someone who separated work and personal life. He could only guess that Guan Heng must have encountered something unpleasant.

Isn’t it easy to soothe a boyfriend? Ye Zhou was skilled at soothing boyfriends. He immediately wiped his hands clean, turned around to face Guan Heng within his embrace, and kissed his cheek in a comforting gesture before passionately kissing his lips.

Guan Heng’s gaze darkened. With his left hand, he grabbed Ye Zhou’s hair, forcing him to tilt his head slightly upward, his fingertips occasionally caressing his scalp.

“Mmm…” Ye Zhou let out a soft hum through his nose but didn’t resist, allowing Guan Heng’s tongue to invade his mouth, sweeping across his sensitive palate, numbing the tip of his tongue. But he still possessed male instincts at his core, and he quickly responded, his tongue sliding against Guan Heng’s in an ambiguous dance, attempting to gain the upper hand.

Guan Heng gradually deepened the kiss, his latent aggressiveness seeming to be ignited. His right hand roamed suggestively between Ye Zhou’s lower back and buttocks, hinting at a potential ignition point.

But Guan Heng ultimately restrained himself, sucking hard on Ye Zhou’s numb tongue before ending the deep kiss.

After the kiss, Ye Zhou was still a bit dizzy.

Guan Heng’s gaze remained intense as he watched Ye Zhou, but his expression had returned to its usual gentleness. “Let’s eat.”

Ye Zhou was still a little dazed. “Mm…”

But when he regained his senses, he was startled. The once empty kitchen was now filled with many items. Ye Zhou looked at the familiar bottles and jars, recognizing the labels as common items from his own kitchen.

Ye Zhou: “…”

Guan Heng was moving everything from his kitchen here, and the arrangement of the items matched Ye Zhou’s habits exactly, not a single detail out of place. It was evident that Guan Heng had an amazing memory. Ye Zhou suddenly suspected that Guan Heng had deliberately kept his kitchen empty, as if implying that Ye Zhou should cook here from now on.

Ye Zhou didn’t know how to react at the moment. But he had to admit, this move was quite clever.

Taking advantage of Ye Zhou’s distraction, Guan Heng touched his head again, transferring the fish and dishes from the pot to the dining table, serving two bowls of rice.

It was Ye Zhou’s first time eating at Guan Heng’s house, and he still found it quite novel. Now, he truly had the strange feeling that your home is my home, and my home is your home.

During dinner, Guan Heng suddenly said, “Tomorrow, someone will come to install a fingerprint lock, which can be opened with keys or fingerprints.”

“Huh?” Ye Zhou didn’t understand what he meant.

Guan Heng smiled at him. “Huh for what? Record your fingerprints.”

Ye Zhou: “!!!”

Although they had slept together, were they progressing to cohabitation so quickly? But wait, he hadn’t even prepared a key for Guan Heng yet.

However, Guan Heng had one more thing to say. “I also want to install a fingerprint lock at your place, do you mind?”

So convenient… he suspected that Guan Heng had planned this all along, tricking him into cooking at his house.

But even if it was premeditated, Ye Zhou wouldn’t possibly mind. Although he was mentally prepared, he now had a preliminary understanding of Guan Heng’s possessiveness. He laughed. “I don’t mind.”

“That’s good. Then I won’t return the key to you for now, I’ll need it tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Ye Zhou wasn’t someone who could hide his thoughts, so he asked bluntly, “Guan Heng, did you do this on purpose?”

“Yes.”

Ye Zhou chuckled, rubbing his nose a little embarrassedly. “You don’t have to… I mean, you can tell me directly what you want me to do… you can be more straightforward, I won’t refuse anyway…”

Guan Heng looked at him for a moment before saying, “If I’m more straightforward, I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”

Guan Heng’s tone was no different from usual, but Ye Zhou keenly sensed something amiss. Someone as excellent and powerful as Guan Heng shouldn’t have said something like that; perhaps he had been misunderstood by someone close to him before. And Ye Zhou quickly associated it with Yue Shu… He didn’t know much about the relationship between Guan Heng and Yue Shu and had no interest in finding out, but Guan Heng’s reaction now was likely related to Yue Shu. He suddenly felt inexplicably jealous…

“No,” Ye Zhou declared decisively.

After saying this, he looked at Guan Heng again and reaffirmed, “No.”

Ye Zhou indeed wouldn’t be scared. He could accept it even when he mistakenly thought Guan Heng was a murderer, so what else couldn’t he accept? Thinking about it, Ye Zhou felt that he seemed a bit terrible, as if he had no boundaries with Guan Heng.

Guan Heng looked deeply at him again. Indeed, Ye Zhou was different from Yue Shu.

They continued eating.

They had only confirmed their relationship a few days ago and should be in the honeymoon phase, but the New Year was coming next week. There was no one left in Ye Zhou’s family, and he had lost contact with the older generation of relatives on his parents’ side, leaving him nowhere to go. Naturally, he would stay at home: “Will you be staying for the New Year?”

“No,” Guan Heng paused, probably also thinking about Ye Zhou’s parents, observing his expression discreetly, “I’ll be going back to my hometown. Both my parents are alive, and I have an older sister above me, who is already married.”

Ye Zhou’s reaction was rather normal, but he suddenly thought of something. “Then your parents… do they know about you…”

Guan Heng understood what Ye Zhou was asking. “Yes, they’ve known for a long time.”

Ye Zhou himself had never experienced parental discipline, but he had heard many stories of this nature, where people were locked up at home or sent for treatment: “They didn’t object?”

Guan Heng said indifferently, “No, they are great parents. Both of them are teachers, with more open-minded ideas.”

Ye Zhou laughed. “So you’re following in their footsteps?”

Guan Heng smiled. “Kind of.”

By the time they finished eating, it was already past nine o’clock in the evening. Guan Heng offered to wash the dishes, but Ye Zhou came over to help, so they squeezed together by the sink.

Ye Zhou actually had something he wanted to say. After some thought, he seized the opportunity and said, “Fang Ji knows about us, of course, I didn’t tell him about your privacy. He has always taken care of me, he’s like family to me, and sometimes I worry him…”

Guan Heng nodded. “I can see that.”

“So I want us to have a meal together and meet a few friends. But what I actually want to ask you is… Can I make our relationship public?” Ye Zhou had never hidden his sexual orientation before, and now that he had a boyfriend, he naturally wanted everyone to know. To him, this was a normal and natural thing. But considering Guan Heng’s job, he wasn’t sure if doing so would affect him.

Guan Heng paused and looked at Ye Zhou.

Ye Zhou quickly added, “Of course, it’s fine if it’s inconvenient for you.”

“Okay, yes,” Guan Heng had never dared to hope that he would meet someone who completely matched his preferences. He knew that even slightly normal people couldn’t tolerate someone like him, but he found these traits in Ye Zhou. Not in a deliberate attempt to please him, but unintentionally, the words he blurted out or his actions were incredibly touching.

Guan Heng agreed too quickly, and Ye Zhou was stunned for a moment before reacting. “Really, is it okay? Won’t it affect your job?”

“It’s fine.” Guan Heng was in a good mood now, and being with Ye Zhou always made him feel relaxed, as if the troubles of the day didn’t matter anymore.

Ye Zhou was smiling, still rambling on. “Then I’ll find a time, maybe before the New Year…”

“Okay.”