Chapter 75

Gu Lao gazed at Gu Yuan, seemingly moved by his words.

These two children had grown up under his watch, and he knew their temperaments best.

“I know you two have a good relationship.”

Gu Lao was unwilling to let some rumors drive a wedge between the two boys whose bond was even stronger than that of real brothers. That would be too cruel.

“I’ll reprimand Gu Feng. Your main task is to protect Little Fish well and not let others bully him. This time, he was framed during the singing contest, and in the end, someone else had to resolve it for him. That’s your failure as his big brother.”

“Got it, Grandpa.” Gu Yuan nodded. “It’s my fault.”

—

After leaving the study room, Gu Yuan arrived at Zhou Chiyu’s bedroom door. Before he could knock, Zhou Chiyu eagerly pushed it open and poked his head out. “Bro, why’d it take you so long to come back?”

Gu Yuan’s lips curved up. “I just went to check on Grandpa.”

“Come in quick. I bought cake.” Zhou Chiyu pulled Gu Yuan to sit on the carpet, grinning as he lifted his chin. “To celebrate my name being cleared.”

Gu Yuan smiled faintly. He folded his long legs slightly and gently wrapped his slender arm around Zhou Chiyu’s waist. The air was filled with a faint creamy scent. At first, he thought it came from the cake, but he soon realized the subtle lemon fragrance was from Zhou Chiyu’s shampoo.

“You’ve taken a shower?”

“Yeah, you weren’t back, so I showered first.”

Gu Yuan chuckled thoughtfully. “Sounds like if I’d come back earlier, you would’ve showered with me.”

Zhou Chiyu’s porcelain-pale cheeks suddenly flushed pink, the heat spreading from his ears to his neck. “I-I didn’t mean that.”

“But when we were little, we used to bathe together all the time.” Gu Yuan spoke calmly, seemingly oblivious to Zhou Chiyu’s panicked averted gaze. “Some people would stand naked in front of me, begging just for a bite of a little cake.”

“Stop it—”

Zhou Chiyu’s Adam’s apple bobbed gently under his delicate skin. “It’s boring to keep bringing up stuff from when we were kids.”

He took a bite of cake and waved the silver fork at Gu Yuan twice. “Keep mentioning those embarrassing stories, and I might have to silence you.”

Zhou Chiyu was adorable when he ate, his lips slightly parted as he savored the cream, oblivious to the bit that smudged on the corner of his mouth.

Gu Yuan watched him tenderly. His fingertip, curved in a smile, suddenly brushed over Zhou Chiyu’s lips. Startled, Zhou Chiyu tried to cover his burning face, but Gu Yuan explained, “You got some cream on you.”

“Oh.” Zhou Chiyu nodded slowly. He thought Gu Yuan would wipe it off and pull away, but instead, Gu Yuan’s warm fingertip lingered, slowly rubbing the corner of his lips as if it wouldn’t come off, deliberately pausing at the edge.

“See.”

After what felt like forever, Gu Yuan finally withdrew his hand but deliberately held his finger in front of Zhou Chiyu, the cream-smeared tip slightly hooked. “You always say I embarrass you, but it’s pretty much the same as when we were kids.”

“Tch.”

Unconvinced, Zhou Chiyu decided to spite Gu Yuan by stuffing all the strawberries from the cake into his mouth.

Gu Yuan loved strawberries the most, and he wasn’t about to let him have any.

“The last one!” Zhou Chiyu’s cheeks bulged roundly as he tauntingly raised his brows at Gu Yuan. “All mine.”

“No problem. I’ll just taste this instead.” Gu Yuan’s voice was like it was coated in cream, laced with gentle laziness.

Before Zhou Chiyu could react, Gu Yuan leaned in close and gently lifted his chin.

“Your lips should be sweeter than strawberries.”

Zhou Chiyu’s heart skipped a beat, nearly dropping the strawberry.

“Here, take it!” He shoved the strawberry back at Gu Yuan, curling up his legs to escape, but his waist was firmly encircled by Gu Yuan’s arm.

Gu Yuan’s voice deepened. “Not eating strawberries. Eating you.”

The final word had barely fallen when Zhou Chiyu was forced to part his lips. His teeth mingled the tart-sweet juice with Gu Yuan’s unique scent.

Their fingertips intertwined ambiguously, sparking waves of electricity. Gu Yuan lifted Zhou Chiyu onto his lap, his slender frame tightly confined, unable to move.

Unknowingly, they slid from the sofa onto the carpet. Zhou Chiyu was pinned beneath Gu Yuan, his disheveled pajamas caught on the carpet’s fibers. He lifted his leg to struggle free but brushed against Gu Yuan’s taut thigh muscles—and something indescribable beside it.

His body stiffened, his spine arching slightly, cheeks burning like embers, both nervous and scared.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Gu Yuan sensed his unease and paused his roaming hands. He cupped Zhou Chiyu’s face and pressed a feather-light kiss to it.

Zhou Chiyu’s ears filled with Gu Yuan’s quick yet steady breaths. “Just hugging for a bit.”

Zhou Chiyu’s head rested gently on Gu Yuan’s arm. After a few seconds, he hugged back, burying his face in Gu Yuan’s chest, feeling that heartbeat through skin and ribcage.

…

After the storm passed, Bai Zhiqi took a week off. By now, the other roommates had noticed something was up, but since Zhou Chiyu didn’t bring it up, they tacitly continued as usual.

Over the next month, Zhou Chiyu would be busy. Not only did he have the school-wide singing contest finals, but he also had to prepare for the entrepreneurship competition.

That day, as soon as he got home, Old Master Gu had him change clothes and accompany him to a banquet.

Of course, Gu Yuan had been called back early too. Rumor had it this banquet was very important—Gu Lao planned to introduce Gu Yuan to his business partners and recommend him to represent the Gu Corporation in joining the Entrepreneurs Club.

Zhou Chiyu was naturally happy for Gu Yuan. It meant Gu Yuan held great weight in Gu Lao’s heart. With so many young Gu Family members, getting Gu Lao’s approval was undoubtedly the most crucial if Gu Yuan planned to work at the Corporation.

The car pulled up at the Club’s entrance, where the owner enthusiastically welcomed the trio inside.

The Club was in Suzhou garden style, with two Taihu stones and welcoming pines leaning at the foyer like immortals with flowing sleeves embracing the moon, majestic and elegant.

Dressed in black suits, the two flanked Gu Lao on either side. They ran into some of Gu Lao’s friends and several young people their age. Zhou Chiyu, outgoing by nature and fond of making friends, exchanged contacts with everyone and made plans to hang out sometime.

In contrast, Gu Yuan carried a maturity beyond his years. Standing with Zhou Chiyu, he seemed more like the child’s guardian. He listened to Zhou Chiyu’s whispers with pursed lips, calm and composed, every movement perfectly attuned to looking after him.

“Little Yuan, this is your Uncle Chen and his daughter.”

Gu Lao nodded toward Gu Yuan. “There’s a gift I gave your Uncle Chen at Bi Bo Court. Take them there.”

“Alright.” Gu Yuan nodded, his voice steady and low as he gestured politely to President Lin’s family. “Please, allow me to escort you and Miss Lin there.”

President Lin was the Entrepreneurs Club chairman and seeing Gu Yuan for the first time. He thanked Gu Lao and praised, “Little Yuan is quite the talent—handsome too. I rarely see young men as striking as him.”

Gu Lao smiled. “It’s been years; your daughter has both beauty and poise.”

Miss Lin stole a glance at Gu Yuan and smiled demurely.

After Gu Lao left with the Lin family, Old Master He arrived with He Zhao. Seeing only Zhou Chiyu by Gu Lao’s side, Old Master He fumed, “Didn’t you bring Gu Yuan?”

“He’s here.” Gu Lao’s gaze deepened. “I had him take Miss Lin to pick up the gift. They can build some rapport along the way.”

Zhou Chiyu froze, juice glass in hand.

Author’s Note:

Random 66 red packets in the comments~ Happy Dragon Boat Festival, little cuties~