Chapter 22 Part 3

Uncle Liu nodded. “Alright, Little Young Master.”

Half the plan succeeded. Gu Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly at Zhou Chiyu—he’d already found a milk tea shop in the mall via app and placed the order secretly with him.

“Brother.” Zhou Chiyu buried his chubby face in Gu Yuan’s neck, mumbling innocently, “What does ‘add toppings’ mean? Crispy boba, coconut chunks…”

He hadn’t tried any of those toppings.

Gu Yuan kept his little face stern, pondering seriously before whispering, “Probably like adding ingredients to cooking—putting tasty stuff in.”

Zhou Chiyu drooled at the thought. “What do they taste like?”

Gu Yuan hesitated. “Fruity, maybe…”

“Brother’s so awesome.” Zhou Chiyu whispered. “You know everything.”

Gu Yuan’s earlobes flushed faintly pink as he nervously watched the order, afraid he’d explained wrong.

At the mall, Gu Yuan excused himself to the bathroom, skillfully distracting the driver, then grabbed Zhou Chiyu’s hand and dashed wildly toward the milk tea shop’s floor.

“Auntie, is our milk tea ready?”

It was Zhou Chiyu’s first time ordering milk tea. He fidgeted with his chubby hands behind his back. “Mine has extra-full crispy boba and taro mash mochi.”

The shop girl leaned over, glancing at the two pretty little kids at the counter. “Right away.”

Once ready, Zhou Chiyu took his pretty milk tea reverently, carrying it with Gu Yuan to a table to drink.

Zhou Chiyu spread his chubby legs wide, blissfully biting the straw. “So yummy!”

The sweet, soft taro mash and mochi melted in his mouth. He slurped the straw contentedly, eyes curving in delight.

This was even better than little cakes.

What kind of divine drink was this!

When he hit the crispy boba, Zhou Chiyu acted just like an ignorant little kid, smacking his lips and scrutinizing the tea.

Passersby saw his near-tears-of-joy expression and glanced up at the sign—within moments, five or six people lined up.

Suddenly, the light in front of them dimmed.

Zhou Chiyu froze mid-sip, realizing Uncle the driver had found them.

In the living room, Bai Wenran’s face was calm, but her eyes held reproach and sternness.

The two guilty little culprits looked ashamed—especially Zhou Chiyu, whose head nearly buried into his schoolbag as he sneakily gauged her expression.

“I insisted on buying it for him.”

Gu Yuan stood ramrod straight, enunciating clearly. “Sorry, Mom. Little Fish is innocent—he didn’t want to drink it. I forced him.”

Bai Wenran narrowed her eyes, her gaze landing on the cheese milk foam smeared at the corner of Zhou Chiyu’s mouth. That cup of milk tea was still clutched tightly in his hand, impossible to pry away. Even if Gu Yuan was lying, couldn’t he come up with a better excuse? Little Fat Fish looked so greedily satisfied—how could it possibly be force?

Under that cool gaze, Zhou Chiyu hugged Gu Yuan’s arm tightly, guiltily hiding his plump body behind him.

“Little Yuan, did you really insist on buying it?”

“Yes.”

Looking into her son’s clear, unwavering eyes, Bai Wenran decided to let it slide. “Fine, but no more buying for your brother next time.”

“Okay.”

Gu Yuan’s tone was calm and gentle. He turned to see Zhou Chiyu secretly slurping his milk tea greedily.

“Little Glutton Cat.”

He ruffled Zhou Chiyu’s curly hair softly.

“Brother, you’re the best.” Zhou Chiyu flashed him a sweet smile and whispered in his ear, “My new memo pads arrived! I’ll save the prettiest one for you—the pattern’s a capybara!”

Gu Yuan’s ear tickled from Zhou Chiyu’s breath, but he nodded earnestly.

Bai Wenran watched their affectionate interaction with a sigh— who’d have thought after just three short years, the two little ones got along like real brothers. Her own son had matured so much, even knowing to protect his brother.

…

The next day, as Zhou Chiyu helped Gu Yuan pass out homework, the homeroom teacher entered and announced something.

“Everyone quiet down—we have a new transfer student in class.”

Zhou Chiyu balanced the stack of notebooks and paused to look toward the front. The new student was a handsome, refined boy.

“I’m Zhou Junyi. I was studying primary school in Britain before.”

“Wow, back from Britain.”

“He’s so handsome.”

The teacher quickly scanned the empty seats and told the transfer student, “You can sit in the second row, fourth seat. Little Fish, take the new classmate to the seat behind you.”

“Oh.” Zhou Chiyu jogged over, took Zhou Junyi’s schoolbag enthusiastically, and grabbed his hand. “You can call me Little Fish. We’ll be desk buddies now—front and back!”

Zhou Junyi smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Little Fish.”

Zhou Chiyu chirped in his babyish voice, “No problem!”

Gu Yuan held the roster, watching them leisurely.

Had Zhou Chiyu just been coquettish?

He hadn’t spoken like that in ages.

He glanced at Zhou Junyi, feeling inexplicably heavy-hearted. “Little Fish, keep passing them out.”

Zhou Chiyu finally tore his gaze from the new classmate. “Oh! Got it!”

After math class, as the teacher assigned homework, Zhou Chiyu pulled out his new memo pad and solemnly furrowed his little brows to jot it down.

Ever since Gu Yuan had accompanied him into primary school, he hadn’t bothered recording homework—Gu Yuan always did it with him every day, explaining the problems too.

But after forgetting the math homework last time, he decided to record it himself, which Gu Yuan fully approved of.

“You don’t have a homework notebook?” Zhou Chiyu noticed the new classmate just tore off a scrap of paper to note it down. Kindly, he reminded him, “You’ll lose it like that. Forgetting homework has serious consequences.”

Zhou Junyi smiled gently at him, revealing two small dimples. “Thank you for the reminder, but I haven’t bought a memo pad yet.”

“I have one!” Zhou Chiyu rummaged energetically through his schoolbag and pulled out a new memo pad printed with capybaras. “Here, it’s for you. Hope you enjoy your school transfer!”

“Wow.” Surprise lit up Zhou Junyi’s eyes and brows. “Thank you so much, Little Fish.”

Zhou Chiyu raised his round face and waved generously. “You’re welcome.”

Gu Yuan was working on his homework when he heard the word “capybara” and felt his head buzz. He quickly glanced at the memo pad in Zhou Junyi’s hand.

That was… the capybara-patterned one!

Hadn’t that been the one Zhou Chiyu originally promised to give him?