Chapter 18

Jiang Chu stiffened his neck and forced down the mochi, frowning slightly.

This was definitely something Bao Li would do.

“There’s nothing special I need to bring. I’ve never been to that farm stay either, but they should have pretty much everything.” He pulled the car over to the curb and checked the time.

It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet. Chen Linguo really knew how to pick a time. Meeting at this hour meant there was no way to avoid sharing a meal, and regardless of whether they bought anything or not, the relationship was already being pulled closer.

Qin Zui listened to the woman’s voice leaking from the phone, then listened to what Jiang Chu was saying, and in an instant, he guessed the gist of their conversation with near perfect accuracy.

It was probably that woman who had sent Jiang Chu that “Brother Chu” text the other day.

She was going to the farm stay with them tomorrow too.

He rolled down the window a bit, propped his arm on the frame and rested his head on his hand, watching Jiang Chu with nothing to do.

Charming, isn’t he.

“I’ve never been to a farm stay before. I only looked up some guides this afternoon,” Chen Linguo’s laughter came through the phone again. The background noise sounded like she was on a busy street. “I originally wanted to find Sister Bao Li to go buy some snacks and drinks, but she and Brother Da Ben seem to have gone to her mom’s place, so she asked me to find you. I’m not interrupting your dinner, am I?”

Not interrupting at all. In fact, the timing was especially convenient.

Jiang Chu met Qin Zui’s gaze, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Chen Linguo had been finding excuses to chat with him for a while now. He didn’t dislike her, exactly, but he also didn’t feel any particular spark.

If he was taking a girl he was interested in out to shop and eat, that would be a pretty good gig. Taking a girl he wasn’t interested in just seemed like a bore.

Besides, there really wasn’t much to buy for a farm stay anyway.

He’d rather take Qin Zui to eat something he’d never tried before. That would be more satisfying.

But Jiang Chu had a decent personality. He could be sharp-tongued sometimes, but most of the time, he knew how to let people save face.

Especially when a girl was being this proactive. They were going to hang out together tomorrow, and refusing such a small request would make her look bad. It wasn’t worth it.

“No trouble. I was about to go eat with my brother anyway.” Jiang Chu bit down on a cigarette. “If you’re in a hurry to buy something, send me your location. I’ll come find you.”

He had assumed that bringing up his little brother would make Chen Linguo get the hint and say, “Forget it, it’s no trouble.”

“Great!” Chen Linguo didn’t hesitate at all. She cheerfully named a shopping mall. “I’m just wandering around here. Perfect, I’ll treat you guys to dinner.”

Jiang Chu hung up. Qin Zui was still resting his face on his hand, watching him. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Future girlfriend? I’ll head back first?”

“Head back, my ass.” Jiang Chu made a U-turn and drove toward the mall.

The crowd at the mall was no less dense than the streets outside, and almost everyone was in pairs or family groups with a kid.

As soon as he walked in, Jiang Chu saw a huge Haidilao billboard. He slapped Qin Zui on the shoulder. “Hotpot for dinner?”

“Whatever.” Jiang Chu looked around casually.

He never had any particular preference when it came to food, and eating with a girl made it even less interesting.

Jiang Chu could feel Qin Zui’s mood. As they entered the elevator, he saw a movie poster on the wall. “How about we catch a movie later?”

Qin Zui glanced at him. “A threesome?”

“What threesome? Don’t make it sound like that.” Jiang Chu clicked his tongue. The elevator was packed. A little kid was leaning against his leg, eating a sugar-coated hawthorn stick.

He reached up and draped his arm over Qin Zui’s shoulder. The kid seemed to have gotten a bit taller. “If you’re not into it, we’ll go see one just the two of us after she’s gone.”

The corner of Qin Zui’s mouth curled up. “Aren’t you afraid she’s in this elevator?”

That sentence actually gave Jiang Chu a start.

Even though Chen Linguo had said she’d be waiting for them on the fourth floor, he couldn’t help but turn his head and scan the elevator. Confirming she wasn’t there, he casually swatted Qin Zui on the ass.

The fourth floor arrived. Qin Zui stepped out. Jiang Chu suddenly realized something. “Hey!” He patted Qin Zui’s back again.

Qin Zui turned around, looking bored, and stared at him. Jiang Chu grinned. “So you’re okay with being touched now, huh?”

He was just saying it offhand. As far as Jiang Chu was concerned, Qin Zui’s whole “don’t touch me here, don’t touch me there” thing was just a pretentious, annoying habit.

Now that he didn’t react to Jiang Chu’s occasional poking and prodding, it was a sign of progress since they’d gotten to know each other.

But Jiang Chu’s words seemed to catch Qin Zui off guard. He stood there for a moment.

Jiang Chu had already walked a couple of steps before he turned back. “What are you spacing out for? Come on.”

This Chen Linguo girl was definitely eye-catching in every way. Jiang Chu didn’t even need to look closely. He spotted her back by the escalator with just a quick glance.

Her hair was still that iconic long, black style, hanging loose like the other day, but it looked like she’d curled it today. She was wearing a denim overall dress with a small cross-body bag. She looked very fresh, leaning on the railing, looking down at something.

Just as he was about to call out to her, she turned around. That’s when Jiang Chu saw she was holding three large cups of milk tea.

“Brother Chu!” Chen Linguo called out with a smile, clutching the milk teas as she walked over quickly.

“Sorry about this, having to trouble you guys to come all the way here. I didn’t know what flavors you guys like, so I just picked some randomly.” She handed the milk tea to Jiang Chu, then looked at Qin Zui, who was strolling slowly behind Jiang Chu. “This must be your little brother?”

She said it quite naturally.

“No problem. We were going out to eat anyway. This is my brother, Qin Zui.” Jiang Chu took the cups from Chen Linguo and handed one to Qin Zui. “This is my friend. Call her Sister Guoguo.”

“Hey, just call me Sister is fine,” Chen Linguo chuckled and waved her hand. “Sister Guoguo sounds like a kids’ TV show host.”

Qin Zui took the milk tea, smiled politely, but didn’t say anything.

Chen Linguo knew perfectly well that there wasn’t much to buy for a farm stay, so when Jiang Chu asked, she suggested they have dinner first.

“How about Haidilao? I grabbed a number just now while I was at it. It should be our turn soon.” She showed Jiang Chu her phone.

“What a coincidence,” Jiang Chu smiled. “We were just talking about hotpot downstairs too.”

“Perfect!” Chen Linguo laughed and moved a little closer to Jiang Chu.

Qin Zui glanced at Chen Linguo from the side.

What a coincidence. The timing of that number was just perfect.

She was persistent, he had to give her that.

From the moment he saw Chen Linguo until they sat down to order, Qin Zui barely said a word.

Chen Linguo and Jiang Chu each ordered what they wanted. When Jiang Chu passed the menu to Qin Zui, Qin Zui scrolled through it without responding.

Chen Linguo enthusiastically recommended several dishes from across the table. She smiled a little sheepishly. “I actually really like squid and pig brain, but I wasn’t sure if you guys could handle the taste, so I didn’t order them.”

Qin Zui casually added an order of squid and pig brain for her.

Chen Linguo happily thanked him.

“You…” Jiang Chu looked at the squid on the screen, then at Qin Zui. He hesitated, wondering if he should mention Qin Zui’s seafood allergy.

Qin Zui didn’t seem to care. He just placed the order, put the ordering device on the table, stood up, and said to both of them, “I’m going to get the dipping sauce.”

Jiang Chu was about to ask if he should go with him, but a waiter came over to pour their drinks. Then, Chen Linguo suddenly nudged his foot under the table. She leaned in and whispered, “Does your brother not like me?”

Hearing the term “little brother” come so naturally from Chen Linguo’s mouth, Jiang Chu found himself feeling a subtle twinge of annoyance.

He couldn’t quite decide if he was annoyed by how naturally Chen Linguo used the term, trying to sound close to him, or just annoyed by the word “little brother” itself. He didn’t overanalyze it.

It felt a bit like taking Zhou Teng to the pet store for a bath, and seeing other pet owners there fussing over Zhou Teng, stroking and petting him, while Zhou Teng just sat there obediently.

“No.” He leaned back in the booth, retracting his foot a little, and explained casually to Chen Linguo. “He’s just not a talker. He’s like this with me at home too.”

“Really?” Chen Linguo rested her elbows on the table, holding her milk tea. Her nose and mouth were hidden behind the cup, and she looked at Jiang Chu with crinkling eyes. “Your brother seems really cool.”

Jiang Chu raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“You don’t know what that means?” Chen Linguo laughed, leaning forward again. She explained it to him, talking and gesturing.

Seeing that Jiang Chu didn’t seem to understand or be very interested, and was just smiling politely to go along with her, she finally sighed. “Anyway, it just means he’s got that dominant vibe. You know what that means, right? Even one of the straight guys from my exam prep class reads Feitian Yexiang.”

Jiang Chu knew words like “top,” “bottom,” and “fujoshi.” Once, back in his junior year, Da Ben was into reading web novels on his phone. One night at 2:30 AM, he suddenly sat up in bed and let out a blood-curdling scream, scaring Fang Zi so badly he almost jumped out of the top bunk.

Da Ben had cursed for a long time, saying, “No wonder the leveling up was so satisfying! But after hundreds of thousands of words, there’s still no female lead. Damn it, the main character’s ass gets fucked in the end!”

Their whole dorm couldn’t stop laughing. They even gathered around to read the part where the butt got “fucked.”

“Ah.” Jiang Chu smiled but didn’t say anything.

Talking about getting your “butt fucked” wasn’t really appropriate dinner conversation, especially when the person sitting across from you was a girl.

But when Qin Zui came back, he couldn’t help but give him a once-over, from head to toe.

He really did look cool.

Thinking about how enthusiastic that girl Lu Yao was towards Qin Zui in the evening, it seemed like girls really went for that type.

Things like “top” and “alpha” and other stuff girls were into went in one ear and out the other for Jiang Chu. But near the end of the meal, Qin Zui’s phone rang.

The name “Liang Xiaojia” appeared on the screen, like clockwork.

Jiang Chu glanced at it. His chopsticks, holding a piece of lettuce, froze mid-air.

“I need to take this.” Qin Zui put down his chopsticks, picked up his phone, and went to find a place to answer it.

“Wow,” Chen Linguo’s face was flushed from the hotpot. She took a sip of her plum drink. “Little brother’s girlfriend?”

Jiang Chu frowned.

“No.” He put down his chopsticks and looked back at Qin Zui’s retreating figure heading toward the bathroom with his phone.

“Are all older brothers like this?” Chen Linguo giggled. “When I was in school, my brother was always on high alert, trying to stop me from dating. He was so protective. But honestly, a boy in high school having a girlfriend isn’t that big a deal, right?”

Jiang Chu didn’t really pay attention to what Chen Linguo said after that.

It really wasn’t a big deal for a teenage boy to be in a relationship. Everyone went through that phase. If a pretty, cute girl like Lu Yao was hanging around him all the time, it would be strange if he didn’t develop some feelings. They’d be secretly texting and calling each other all day long…

Jiang Chu’s train of thought derailed, leaving him confused.

The problem was, that Liang Xiaojia wasn’t a girl.