Chapter 15
Lu Mian choked back his tears. From now on, he would equally dislike everyone who paused dramatically mid-sentence.
“Who’s foolish?” The door to the private room swung open with a bang, and Chu Bai Xu walked in, frowning at the sight of the two inside. “What are you doing?”
He saw Lu Mian’s reddened eyes, looking as if he had been bullied, and immediately glared at Lu Lin. “Did you hit him?”
Lu Lin’s fingertip still rested on the corner of Lu Mian’s eye. He gently rubbed it before withdrawing his hand, then glanced at Chu Bai Xu, showing no intention of acknowledging him.
“Mian Mian, did he bully you?” Chu Bai Xu, reasonably, wanted to confirm the accusation before deciding whether to intervene. All Lu Mian needed to do was nod, and he would immediately throw Lu Lin out.
Lu Mian was still in a daze, genuinely startled by Lu Lin’s words.
Ignored, Chu Bai Xu felt a sense of unwelcome.
“What do you want to eat?” Lu Lin’s voice came from beside him.
Lu Mian snapped back to reality, turning his head, the moisture in his eyes disappearing, his voice sulky as he glared back. “Eat you bankrupt!”
Then, another, weaker voice said, “Mian Mian, I’m treating you to this meal.”
Chu Bai Xu wiped the nonexistent sweat on his forehead, his expression helpless.
Lu Mian pouted and looked at Chu Bai Xu, about to retract his previous statement, when he heard Lu Lin say, “I can treat you too.”
Lu Mian turned to look at Lu Lin.
Lu Lin looked back at him, his voice unhurried, “Eat me bankrupt.”
With Lu Lin’s words, Lu Mian immediately puffed up his chest. “Let me tell you, I’m not ordinary.”
Chu Bai Xu, thinking of the small amount he had eaten at lunch, couldn’t help but scoff. “Your appetite is indeed not ordinary. Even a cat would starve to death with your food intake.”
Lu Mian gave him a “you know nothing” look. “I’m from Class 3 (2)! Not Class 1!”
Chu Bai Xu was confused. “What?”
As they were talking, Lu Lin gestured to the waiter outside. “Are there any dietary restrictions?”
Hearing the question, Chu Bai Xu instinctively replied, “I can eat anything.” Then he saw Lu Lin glance at him.
Chu Bai Xu: “…” He wasn’t asking me.
Lu Mian sat up straight, spouting nonsense. “Don’t eat fools, don’t eat idiots.” Lu Lin was already suspicious of him; Lu Mian felt he shouldn’t appear too smart.
“Haha,” Chu Bai Xu immediately laughed. “Asking him is pointless.”
Lu Mian rolled his eyes inwardly at Chu Bai Xu.
Lu Lin stopped asking and ordered some dishes. Lu Mian listened, his eyes sparkling with every dish named; they were all his favorites.
After Lu Lin finished ordering, Chu Bai Xu added, “One more quail, glutinous rice stuffed duck, fish-flavored tofu, and a pot of Shaochun wine.”
Lu Mian turned his head, correcting him, “Four.”
Chu Bai Xu glanced at him, and Lu Mian stared back, his eyes clear and innocent, his voice curious. “Is there fish in fish-flavored tofu?”
Chu Bai Xu paused. “No.”
“Then why is it called fish-flavored tofu?” Lu Mian continued to ask, fiddling with his fingers. “Wife cakes don’t have wives, and husband and wife lung slices don’t have husbands or wives, or lungs…”
He continued rambling, the other two unable to get a word in.
Chu Bai Xu snapped back to reality and slowly turned his head. “Is he always like this?”
Lu Lin didn’t answer, his gaze fixed on Lu Mian, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.
Lu Mian: “Ah, no, even if there were, I wouldn’t dare eat them.”
It would be terrifying if there were actual wives in wife cakes or actual husbands and wives in husband and wife lung slices.
Chu Bai Xu looked at his foolish younger brother with affection. “We’re not eating those. The food we ordered will be here soon.”
As the dishes were served, he automatically took a small plate and placed a little of everything on it, intending to give it to Lu Mian. But before he could put the plate down, Lu Mian’s bowl was already piled high.
Chu Bai Xu looked up and saw Lu Lin putting down his chopsticks.
Their eyes met, and Lu Lin asked, “Aren’t you eating, Young General Chu?”
Lu Mian, gnawing on a large bone, mumbled, “Eat, eat! Today’s expenses are all on Young Master Lu!”
Chu Bai Xu: “…”
Who was treating whom?
But Lu Lin’s attitude, as if he only saw Lu Mian, made Chu Bai Xu feel slightly displeased.
He was Lu Mian’s older brother.
“Eat, Older Brother will get you anything you want, Mian Mian.” Chu Bai Xu placed the plate in front of him, poured himself a cup of Shaochun wine, took a sip, then leaned back in his chair, his posture unrestrained.
Lu Mian took a large bite of meat and chewed. “Mm, I want everything!”
He wouldn’t choose.
Chu Bai Xu laughed heartily, finished his wine in one gulp, and then gave Lu Mian more food.
As he leaned closer, the faint scent of wine reached Lu Mian’s nose. He sniffed. “Smells good.”
Lu Mian was about to turn around when his chin was lifted. A piece of shrimp was placed in his mouth. He swallowed it and looked at Lu Lin, who was peeling shrimp for him, his face full of gratitude.
Lu Mian: QvQ.
So touched, I could cry.
Lu Lin could be quite nice sometimes.
Peeling shrimp for him.
“Delicious?” Lu Lin glanced at him, his gaze sweeping past Chu Bai Xu, who had just missed a chance to feed him, then returning to Lu Mian. The boy’s cheeks were puffed out, his eyes sparkling with joy, curved like crescents, captivating and alluring.
Lu Lin’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He pressed his still-healing wound, the slight sting bringing him back to his senses. His lips parted, his voice slightly hoarse. “Want more?”
“Yes!” Lu Mian nodded without hesitation, his gaze fixed on the half-peeled salt and pepper shrimp in Lu Lin’s hand. He couldn’t help but lick his lips, which were already glistening with oil, now even redder.
Lu Lin paused for a moment before returning his gaze to his hand, continuing to peel the shrimp slowly and methodically.
Lu Mian was being pampered. Lu Lin peeled shrimp for him, Chu Bai Xu served him food, he didn’t have to do anything himself, even the water was brought to him…
“Cough, cough, cough—” Lu Mian choked after taking a sip of the ‘water’ placed beside him.
Chu Bai Xu, who had moved to his right at some point, was slightly tipsy. Hearing the coughing, he froze. “That’s wine, did you drink it?”
Lu Mian stuck out his tongue; the wine burned, and his eyes teared up. “I didn’t know it was wine.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his face was cupped and turned to the other side.
Lu Lin frowned. “Drunk.”
“Not drunk,” Lu Mian shook his head, slurring his denial.
“Really drunk,” Chu Bai Xu said, then laughed loudly. “What’s going on, Mian Mian? Weren’t you quite a good drinker before? I remember at Grandmother’s birthday banquet last year, you drank several pots of Jiu Yun Chun without any problem.”
Lu Mian was dazed, his mind wandering. He stared at the person cupping his face, his eyes crossing, then uncrossing, mumbling, “Two… no, why do you have… one, two, three heads?”
Lu Lin pulled the little drunkard closer. “You’re drunk, let’s go back.”
“Go back? Can’t go back, waaaah.”
Lu Mian seemed to have remembered something, and after saying that, he started crying, burying his face in Lu Lin’s chest.
Chu Bai Xu sobered up halfway. “He’s really drunk! Oh no… we’re in trouble.”
If Madam Chu saw Lu Mian drunk, would he survive? Chu Bai Xu didn’t dare to imagine.
Lu Lin had already picked up the crying boy.
Seeing him about to leave, Chu Bai Xu tried to call out to him to wait, but seeing Lu Mian crying so hard, he stopped himself. “Why is he crying like this?”
Lu Lin’s lips were tightly pressed together, and he didn’t speak.
Lu Mian continued to wail, “Waaah, go back…” But no one was waiting for him back there, so he cried even harder.
Lu Lin placed a few silver ingots on the corner of the table and walked away, saying to the little drunkard, regardless of whether he could hear, “Let’s go back now.”
“I should have paid,” Chu Bai Xu said, glancing at the silver ingots, then followed them out. “I heard you’re not having a good time at the Lu residence.” He had heard some things after Old Master Ji had chosen Lu Lin.
Lu Lin continued walking, seemingly not intending to answer.
As they reached the door, Chu Bai Xu finally heard him say softly, “I’ve saved up some money over the years; I can still afford a meal.”
Chu Bai Xu raised an eyebrow. That might be so, but given Lu Lin’s situation in the Lu family, he couldn’t have saved much.
He sighed, looking at the head peeking out from Lu Lin’s arms. His foolish younger brother would have two older brothers doting on him from now on. Being a fool wasn’t so bad.
The three returned to the General’s residence by carriage. As soon as Chu Bai Xu got off, he saw Madam Chu holding a cane, and his scalp tightened. He looked around for help, but only saw a fleeting corner of a robe.
Lu Lin, carrying Lu Mian, had already walked straight towards the courtyard.
“Wait—”
As soon as Chu Bai Xu uttered a word, Madam Chu’s cold laugh came. “I told you to take good care of your brother, and this is how you take care of him? You actually took Mian Mian drinking?”
“Mother, let me explain—”
“Explain to my cane.”
Chu Bai Xu turned and ran, intending to find Lu Lin to testify for him. He hadn’t given Lu Mian the wine. But he was stopped by the guards after only two steps.
Lu Lin carried Lu Mian into the room, placed him on the bed, and wiped away the tears on his face with a wet cloth. Lu Mian had cried himself to sleep in the carriage and showed no signs of waking up.
Clearly very drunk.
Someone who used to have a high tolerance for alcohol was now drunk after just a sip.
Lu Lin narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingertips tracing the boy’s cheek, pausing at the spot where a dimple would appear when he smiled. Then, his low voice echoed in the quiet room.
“Who are you?”
Lu Mian’s eyebrows twitched, either reacting to the voice or about to wake up.
Lu Lin placed the cloth on the edge of the basin and turned, meeting a pair of misty eyes.
“Who… are you?” Lu Mian, who had never drunk alcohol before, hadn’t expected to get drunk so easily. He was still dazed, his mind a blur as he looked at the person in front of him.
Lu Lin paused, then suddenly asked, “Who do you think I am?”
Lu Mian thought for a moment. “Sun Wukong?”
He shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind, then his eyes widened abruptly. “You’re the villain!”
Lu Lin frowned, not understanding. He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind Lu Mian’s ear, but Lu Mian flinched back.
“Ahhh, don’t touch me!”
“What’s wrong?” Lu Lin paused, his eyelashes lowering, concealing the darkness in his eyes.
Lu Mian hugged himself tightly, accusing, “You like men, how can you just touch me!”
Lu Lin froze. “I like men?”
Lu Mian nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes!”
Lu Lin looked at him intently, as if about to refute, but he didn’t move.
He liked men?
No.
But…
Lu Lin looked at Lu Mian. “I don’t.”
Lu Mian looked at him suspiciously.
Lu Lin’s lips curved into a rare smile, his dark eyes reflecting the boy’s figure. His eyes were red from crying, like a rabbit’s. He slowly parted his lips, his voice almost coaxing, like a tempting demon.
“So, can I touch you now?”
“Mian Mian?”
