Chapter 10: The Vicious Fake Young Master of a Wealthy Family – 10

Su Wenyu had been wondering earlier: why was 520 so quiet today upon seeing Zhou Xu? In the past few days, whenever he couldn’t run into Zhou Xu, 520 kept nagging him to seek the man out.

Because only by confirming Zhou Xu’s location could 520 issue its missions. Otherwise, if a mission was issued and Su Wenyu couldn’t find the target within the time limit, it would be a guaranteed failure.

Yet today, when Su Wenyu had actually found Zhou Xu, 520 had been utterly silent.

So this was what it was waiting for.

When the system goes quiet, it must be up to something.

This mission was dropped far too abruptly, giving Su Wenyu not a single second to prepare.

Sabotage Zhou Xu’s romantic prospects and ruin his image in the eyes of those girls.

Didn’t that mean Su Wenyu had to barge into the dessert shop and interrupt their interaction before those girls could get his contact information?

There was no more time to linger outside. Seeing one of the girls already pulling out her phone, Su Wenyu pushed the door open and strode in.

The bell hanging on the door chimed a pleasant sound at his entrance. Regardless of what they were doing, the employees inside chorused in unison, “Welcome to Tianyuan Li!”

Zhou Xu’s voice, deep and prominent among the others, welcomed him as he busily packaged the girls’ selected pastries.

Hearing the bell, the other customers instinctively glanced toward the door. They saw a beautiful young man dressed in a light striped T-shirt and jeans, carrying a bulky, heavy-looking thermal food box, making a beeline straight for the cashier counter.

“Brother!” The young man’s voice was as clear as a mountain spring. His round, slightly upturned—almost cat-like—eyes were filled with apparent joy as he looked at the man behind the counter, effectively halting his movements.

Two handsome guys who were actually brothers?!

Bystanders marveled at the family’s good genetics. The older brother was this dashing, and the younger brother was equally stunning.

Zhou Xu’s hands stalled over the desserts. When he heard Su Wenyu’s voice, he thought for a moment he was hallucinating.

It was only when the girls in front of the counter instinctively stepped aside to make room that a jolt of foreboding shot through Zhou Xu.

He looked up, and Su Wenyu’s dazzling face was right there, his eyes sparkling as he called out again, “Brother!”

Zhou Xu: “…”

Who’s your brother?

In that instant, the slight recoil of Zhou Xu’s body practically screamed his resistance to Su Wenyu’s sudden appearance.

The girls at the counter had just arduously worked up the nerve to strike up a conversation with Zhou Xu. Now, abruptly interrupted by Su Wenyu’s sudden arrival, that courage instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.

They even quietly shuffled aside, giving Su Wenyu the vast majority of the space in front of the counter.

Out of the corner of his eye, Su Wenyu could even see the girl who’d brought out her phone to show a QR code silently slipping it back into her pocket.

Su Wenyu felt terribly sorry, but the mission couldn’t be stopped.

“Brother, have you had lunch yet? I came to bring you some food.” Su Wenyu put on a mask of enthusiastic obedience, placing the oversized thermal box onto the counter.

Zhou Xu took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and forcibly reined in his emotions. He pushed the food box away. “Don’t put things unrelated to the shop on the counter. I’m working. Move aside and stop blocking the customers.”

“…Oh.”

Su Wenyu pouted, looking utterly wounded by the harsh words. He lifted the box off the counter, made way for the girls, and didn’t forget to offer them a small apology: “Sorry for interrupting you.”

The girls all had good temperaments and hurriedly waved their hands, saying it was fine.

One of the bolder ones asked him, “You and him, you’re brothers?”

Su Wenyu pressed his lips into a small smile, nodded, and said happily, “He’s my older brother.”

Zhou Xu, overhearing this, let out a barely audible scoff.

As if. As if this wasn’t the very same person who had stepped on his knee just days ago and sneered at him from his high horse.

Yet now, in front of strangers, he was putting on the perfect act of a good little brother.

Hearing Zhou Xu’s scoff, Su Wenyu’s happy expression immediately faltered. In a voice loud enough for the surrounding girls to hear, he said to Zhou Xu, “I know you hate me, but you’ve misunderstood. I’m really not gay.”

The surrounding girls: “…”

Zhou Xu, who was just about to hand over several packaged desserts to the girls: “…”

Zhou Xu’s hand jolted, nearly dropping the pastries onto the counter.

“What are you talking about?” Zhou Xu was stunned.

Why was he bringing this up now?

The girls nearby instantly perked up with the spirit of eager gossip, staring at them in shock.

Even the disappointment of failing to get the handsome guy’s contact info vanished!

Gossip! There was gossip?!

Seizing the moment while the girls were still present, Su Wenyu’s little mouth started rattling off his apology: “It was wrong of me to bully you that day. But you completely misunderstood and assumed I’m gay. I explained, but you wouldn’t believe me.”

“You’re my brother. Even if I were gay, it’s impossible that I’d like you. So, you really are just misunderstanding me.”

“Actually, I read about a condition online. It’s called ‘homophobic closet-case.’ Isn’t it possible… that you are the one who’s gay? That’s why you interpret my kindness as romantic interest… meaning, in reality, it’s you who likes me?”

Su Wenyu mixed truths with outright slander, giving his absurd accusations an alarming degree of believability.

The expressions of the nearby girls, when they looked at Zhou Xu, all shifted.

Simultaneously, 520’s congratulatory voice chimed inside Su Wenyu’s mind: [Congratulations, Wenyu! Mission complete!!]

Under System 520’s mission, Su Wenyu had successfully thwarted Zhou Xu’s romantic prospects and devastated his image in the girls’ eyes.

When the girls took their packaged desserts from Zhou Xu, their gazes all held a hint of, ‘So that’s the kind of person you are.’

Suspecting his little brother was gay and had a crush on him?

Way too narcissistic!!

The girls rejoiced internally that they hadn’t asked for his contact info after all. Tutting and whispering amongst themselves, they took their desserts and left.

No other customers were waiting to pay at the moment, leaving only Zhou Xu and Su Wenyu—who was pretending to wipe at his eyes—at the cashier counter.

Zhou Xu placed both hands on the counter, his gaze heavy as he stared at the theatrically false weeping Su Wenyu. There wasn’t even a single tear in those beautiful eyes. He let out a laugh born of sheer fury.

“Su Wenyu, have I been too gentle with you?” Zhou Xu asked.

“I’m a closet-case? I’m gay? I thought your kindness was affection? I like you?”

Zhou Xu fired off four rapid-fire questions, each one stabbing directly at Su Wenyu’s conscience. “Su Wenyu, can a single truthful sentence ever come out of that mouth of yours?”

“The fact that I’m not gay and don’t like you is the truth,” Su Wenyu said, completely sincere.

“Hah.” Zhou Xu let out a cold laugh.

He didn’t believe a single word coming out of Su Wenyu’s mouth now.

Zhou Xu even understood precisely why Su Wenyu had suddenly spewed all that.

Clearly, he’d seen those girls getting their phones ready to ask for his number and rushed in to stop them.

Zhou Xu’s ears were sharp. He’d heard the girls whispering to each other about their plan as they approached.

And he still claimed he wasn’t gay and didn’t like him?

Two words.

Don’t believe it.

Zhou Xu looked down at Su Wenyu standing before the counter and reached up to untie his pink rabbit apron.

He decided he needed to have a serious talk with this so-called “little brother.”

If he was bold enough today to block someone from asking for his number, was he going to attempt to kiss him outright tomorrow?

Zhou Xu’s only mistake was being too mild-mannered with him that first day back, treating him as a “little brother,” which gave him the gall to keep pushing his boundaries.

“Xu Ran, come out here and cover for me for a bit. I’ve got something to take care of,” Zhou Xu called towards the kitchen as he took off his apron.

Moments later, a tall, strapping young man wearing a chef’s hat, a clear face mask, and the same pink rabbit apron poked his head out from the back curtain. His loud voice boomed, “What’s up? Need a hand?”

“No, it’s a family matter,” Zhou Xu said.

Xu Ran’s gaze swept over in Su Wenyu’s direction and immediately locked onto his face. That exceptionally striking face suddenly matched a face from his memory.

“Ah, you’re that…” Xu Ran’s brain scrambled frantically to recall his name.

Su Wenyu offered a polite smile and extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Zhou Xu’s brother, Su Wenyu.”

“Oh, oh, right, right, Su Wenyu.” Xu Ran shook his hand and introduced himself. “Xu Ran, Zhou Xu’s friend.”

Zhou Xu’s eyes lingered on their clasped hands for a split second. He nudged Xu Ran toward the cash register, forcibly separating the two.

“Alright, there’s a customer. Get to work,” Zhou Xu said.

Xu Ran was about to protest that there were no customers when a chime sounded at the door. His customer-service instinct kicked in: “Welcome to Tianyuan Li!”

While Xu Ran busied himself, Zhou Xu walked out from behind the counter, gesturing with his eyes for Su Wenyu to follow him outside.

Su Wenyu grabbed his food box, waved goodbye to Xu Ran with a smile, and jogged after Zhou Xu out the door.

The outdoor temperature today soared to thirty-seven degrees. Even the shaded tables outside were empty.

Zhou Xu pulled out a bamboo chair under the shade umbrella, sat down, and rapped his knuckles on the table, signaling Su Wenyu to sit. He demanded, “Spill. How did you find this place? What exactly do you want?”

Naturally, Su Wenyu couldn’t betray Shi Pei. He neatly sidestepped the first question, placing the food box in front of Zhou Xu again. “I really am just here to bring you lunch.”

…And completed a little mission on the side.

Zhou Xu crossed his arms, his posture a fortress of distrust and wariness.

“Did you make this food yourself?” Zhou Xu asked.

Su Wenyu blinked. “Well, no. I don’t know how to cook.”

“But I specially requested the family chefs to prepare it. It’s healthy and poison-free, you can rest assured.”

As he spoke, he opened the box layer by layer, showing off the exquisite dishes inside.

Just by appearance alone, it was obvious that a pampered young master like Su Wenyu, who’d never so much as lifted a finger, couldn’t have made this.

Observing Zhou Xu’s expression, Su Wenyu tentatively added, “If you want to eat something I made, I could try cooking tomorrow and bring it over?”

“…Don’t bother.” Zhou Xu reached out and closed the food box. “The shop provides meals. Don’t come here anymore.”

“Why? Just because I said you were a closet-case in front of people?” Su Wenyu immediately clutched his heart in a theatrical display of hurt and delivered a practiced apology. “I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have spouted such nonsense.”

That wasn’t the reason at all, but Zhou Xu still watched his performance, asking, “What exactly are you wrong about?”

Su Wenyu pondered for a moment, then said, “I shouldn’t have said you liked me in front of other people.”

Zhou Xu: “You shouldn’t say it even when we’re alone.”

Su Wenyu seized on the crucial point: “Wait, you didn’t deny that you like me?”

Zhou Xu: “…”

He gritted his teeth and repeated the phrase he’d lost count of. “I am a straight man. I am your brother! It is impossible for me to like you!”

Looking at Zhou Xu’s deadly serious expression, Su Wenyu was struck by a sudden urge to tease him. “I don’t believe you.”

Zhou Xu: “Ha. Ha, ha.”

He was utterly and completely driven insane with fury.