Chapter 97 Part 1

That day, everyone in the entire Happiness Apartment heard about one thing—the beautiful wife of the Mr. Mo who lived in 1602 had “run away from home.”

Quite a few people had already been paying close attention to the goings-on in his household, so the news spread like wildfire.

Mo Heng searched everywhere outside, and since all the residents recognized Zhong Nian’s face, he still couldn’t go out freely and had to stay in Pei Yan’s home.

On the second day of staying at Pei Yan’s place, he had already adapted a little.

The first night, he hadn’t slept well. In the new environment, the smell of the pillow and bedding felt somewhat unfamiliar, lacking Mo Heng’s unique pinewood chill scent. In the middle of the night, he occasionally heard noises from the other side of the wall, learning that Mo Heng hadn’t slept a wink all night.

He had finally dozed off groggily just before dawn, only to have bizarre nightmares. When he turned over and opened his eyes, he suddenly discovered Pei Yan squatting by his bedside. The massive figure resembled a large beast crouched in place, with a pair of black eyes staring straight at him—fervent and obsessed, utterly terrifying.

All of Zhong Nian’s remaining sleepiness vanished in an instant. He sat up helplessly and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“…Wanted to look at you.” Pei Yan seemed to know he’d done something wrong and lowered his head.

“…” Zhong Nian fell silent for a moment. “You disturbed my sleep.”

Pei Yan murmured a quiet “sorry” and then left the bedroom reluctantly but obediently.

After that, he didn’t come in to disturb Zhong Nian until he had gotten enough sleep.

But when Zhong Nian went out yawning, he saw the man squatting right at the door, no one knew how long he’d been waiting.

The moment Pei Yan saw him, his head, which had been drooping over his knees, perked up instantly. A sparkle lit up in his black eyes as he said, “I was waiting to eat with you.”

Intangibly, Zhong Nian seemed to see a wilted tail wagging wildly.

It was clearly he who had come to stay at Pei Yan’s home, but now it felt like Pei Yan was his pet, waiting for him to feed it, walk it, and satisfy its needs.

That said, Pei Yan’s cooking skills turned out to be pretty good too.

The day before, when Zhong Nian had toured Pei Yan’s home, he’d seen a bunch of instant noodles in the cabinets and assumed he couldn’t cook. So he couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised when he tasted his handiwork.

Pei Yan sat in his chair, fingers picking at the table’s grain, a little embarrassed as he explained, “Before, I saw that you liked Senior Jiang’s cooking, so I secretly asked him for advice.”

He took out the book Jiang Jingyun had given him and showed it to Zhong Nian.

Zhong Nian was a bit surprised to hear Jiang Jingyun’s name. He flipped open the book in front of him and fell silent.

It wasn’t some simple beginner’s recipe book, but Culinary Culture Studies, a full inch thick, crammed with dense terminology and text, without a single reference image. Zhong Nian got dizzy just glancing at it.

For Pei Yan to have learned so quickly from something so obscure and difficult was simply astonishing—compared to Mo Heng, one could call it a rare talent.

“You’re really impressive,” Zhong Nian couldn’t help but praise him sincerely.

Pei Yan got a little excited upon hearing that and said, “I’ll keep working hard.”

But afterward, Zhong Nian recalled seeing easier books on Jiang Jingyun’s bookshelf back at his place— all sorts, covering a vast range. Any one of them would have been far more beginner-friendly than Pei Yan’s.

Then he remembered the strange, undercurrent-laden atmosphere between the two at the Assembly Hall during the final moments of the auction. After some internal debate, Zhong Nian probed, “What’s your relationship with Jiang Jingyun like?”

Pei Yan answered honestly, “We’ve exchanged a few words. I respect him a lot. Since I don’t have much experience… I wanted to ask him for some tips on being a lover.”

Zhong Nian suspected he’d misheard. “…What tips did you say?”

Pei Yan rubbed his neck, head lowered, ears slightly red—like a high school boy facing his crush, face flushed as he said, “Before, I was really envious of your relationship with him, so I wanted to…”

“I have no relationship with him!” Zhong Nian interrupted, unable to hold back. A mix of anger and helplessness welled up in his chest.

He recalled how Pei Yan had cornered him that day, saying he wanted to be his lover, and some things he hadn’t understood… like not being inferior to Jiang Jingyun or whatever.

He’d been scared out of his wits back then and hadn’t had the bandwidth to realize there was a misunderstanding.

“I’ve always interacted with him normally. We don’t have that kind of improper relationship. Have you forgotten? A few days ago, I broke the rules, and he personally caught me.” Of course, Zhong Nian would never mention that Jiang Jingyun had intentions of developing an improper relationship with him.

Pei Yan froze. “It wasn’t arranged?”

“Arranged what? Don’t tell me you thought I planned it with him—deliberately breaking the rules so he’d catch me, then use the rules to ditch Mo Heng?”

Seeing Pei Yan nod, Zhong Nian felt a little exhausted and pursed his lips. “Of course not.”