Chapter 11: The Vicious Fake Young Master of a Wealthy Family – 11

Zhou Xu felt that sitting out here in this sweltering heat chatting with Su Wenyu was a colossal waste of time.

“Think whatever you want,” he said, standing up. “But I’m warning you: don’t try any tricks on me.”

Su Wenyu wasn’t the least bit intimidated by his warning. Seeing him get up to leave, he even reached out and grabbed the hem of his shirt, asking, “Where are you going?”

Zhou Xu halted his steps, glancing back at his captured shirt-hem. Coldly, he commanded, “Let go.”

Su Wenyu absolutely refused. Otherwise, wouldn’t this long trip have been for nothing?

“I haven’t eaten yet,” Su Wenyu said, patting the food box. “There’s enough in here for two people. Let’s eat together.”

Zhou Xu held his patience, desperately wanting to ask Su Wenyu how he could act like nothing had just happened and propose they share a meal.

How could someone be this thick-skinned?

“Eat it yourself. The shop provides my meals.” Zhou Xu yanked his shirt free with a sharp tug and strode back toward the dessert shop.

Su Wenyu leaned back against the bamboo chair, watching him go for a moment before retracting his gaze and sighing softly. “But this is such a large portion; I can’t finish it all by myself.”

520 timidly popped up, asking, [Aren’t you angry?]

Su Wenyu was puzzled: [Angry about what?]

520: [He was so fierce with you just now. You should have burst into tears immediately, cried loudly, and made everyone around believe he was bullying you. That would have increased your Villain Value too.]

The method 520 suggested, while not part of its standard mission protocols, was a common ploy used by many villains.

Su Wenyu looked thoughtful, an expression of learning something new on his face. “I see.”

[Well? Are you going to keep going in and getting close to him? Sometimes, persistent pestering is also a villainous virtue,] 520 said.

Su Wenyu repacked his food box and said, “I have to go in. It’s too hot out here.”

Even though Su Wenyu had a generally cold constitution and wasn’t that sensitive to heat, he wasn’t stupid.

Thirty-seven degrees outside, while there was a perfectly cool and comfortable air-conditioned shop available—why would he sit out here under a sun umbrella?

As for Zhou Xu’s warning to stay away, Su Wenyu simply pretended not to hear it.

The dessert shop wasn’t owned by Zhou Xu. Even if he wasn’t delivering food, Su Wenyu could enter as a legitimate paying customer.

So, just as Zhou Xu had retied his apron and resumed his post at the cash register, Su Wenyu pushed the door open with a jingle. Ignoring the look Zhou Xu shot his way, he smiled at Xu Ran nearby. “Hello, could I order a slice of cake to eat here while I wait for my brother to get off work?”

Xu Ran glanced at Zhou Xu’s expression, utterly unable to decipher what was going on between the two brothers. He could only mumble a vague “Uh, yeah.”

Then he asked, “What would you like? It’s on the house.”

Su Wenyu waved him off with a smile. “No need, I’ll just order and pay like everyone else.”

“No way! With your relationship to Zhou Xu, there’s no way I could let you pay to eat here,” Xu Ran declared boisterously.

Zhou Xu didn’t even lift his eyelids. Coldly, he interjected, “Let him pay.”

Xu Ran: “…Huh? Oh. Uh, okay then. Suit yourselves.”

Xu Ran looked from Zhou Xu to Su Wenyu, completely stumped as to whether their relationship was good or bad at this point. Feeling terribly awkward caught between them, he muttered to Zhou Xu, “It’s almost our lunch break in half an hour. I’ll be in the back.”

Zhou Xu nodded. Xu Ran flashed Su Wenyu a broad, somewhat awkward grin and hastily retreated to the kitchen.

Su Wenyu glanced at Zhou Xu, who clearly had zero intentions of engaging with him, and paid his cold demeanor no mind.

If anything, Su Wenyu found Zhou Xu’s emotional stability rather impressive. He’d stepped on his knee, humiliated him, shown up uninvited, and slandered his sexual orientation in front of strangers—and Zhou Xu hadn’t blown up and hit him. He’d only issued cold-voiced warnings to stay away.

Su Wenyu felt that as long as it didn’t involve his family, Zhou Xu’s tolerance toward him was remarkably high.

He just didn’t know whether Zhou Xu treated everyone this way, or if it was just because Su Wenyu was his “little brother” that he received this extra sliver of forbearance.

Su Wenyu filed that question away to test at a later opportunity.

As for now, he kind of wanted to eat some cake.

Su Wenyu temporarily placed his food box on a small, unoccupied round table in a corner, then went over to the dessert display case at the far end. He bent slightly at the waist, perusing the selection of mini cakes.

When was the last time he’d eaten cake? Su Wenyu couldn’t remember. It seemed like he’d only ever taken a single bite of frosting before his mother scolded him about not eating too many sweets. Now he couldn’t even recall what cake tasted like.

This shop had an especially vast variety of cakes, each slice not overly large—perfect for Su Wenyu to sample a few different flavors.

Matcha panna cotta with snow cap, strawberry ice cream mousse, dark chocolate oatmeal cake, mango mousse…

Su Wenyu picked out several slices, having the young woman behind the counter retrieve them, and carried them over to Zhou Xu to pay.

Seeing Su Wenyu’s smiling, eager expression, Zhou Xu slowly exhaled to control his temper, striving to treat Su Wenyu just like any other normal customer.

He scanned the cakes, tapped at his register screen, and said, “Total is sixty-five yuan. WeChat Pay or Alipay?”

“Huh?” Su Wenyu blanked for a moment. It took him a good while to rummage through the Original Host’s memories and figure out how to pay with his phone.

He pulled out his phone, somewhat clumsily navigated to his WeChat payment QR code, and showed it to Zhou Xu, asking, “This one?”

Zhou Xu glanced at it, saw it was correct, and told him to scan it on the reader.

Su Wenyu fumbled with scanning the code. Beep. The screen displayed a payment of sixty-five yuan.

“Ohh~” Su Wenyu, using a payment code for the very first time, found it strangely fascinating.

Zhou Xu looked at Su Wenyu’s seeming act of playing dumb with a speechless expression and asked, “For here or to go?”

“For here.” Su Wenyu smiled at him, then his eyes caught a promotional sign next to him. He quickly pointed at it. “Add one of these, too.”

Zhou Xu glanced at the sign—the shop’s summer-special shaved ice, available in many different flavors.

“What flavor?” Zhou Xu asked.

Su Wenyu looked a bit torn. After tapping his finger thoughtfully on the sign, he decided. “This one. Mango. And blueberry. Peach, and also lychee!”

Su Wenyu chose his absolute favorite fruit flavors.

Zhou Xu’s hand paused mid-order. He reminded him, “One serving only comes in one flavor.”

Su Wenyu nodded. “I want four servings.”

Zhou Xu: “…”

His mouth opened, but any words of dissuasion died on his lips. Expressionlessly, he entered the order. “Total is sixty yuan.”

Su Wenyu once again fumbled to pull up his QR code and paid.

Zhou Xu handed him the printed receipt. “The shaved ice will be brought to your table by a staff member.”

“Oh, okay.” Su Wenyu took his receipt and his little cakes and went back to the table where he’d left his food box.

The cakes here weren’t overly sweet, but the texture of the cream was exquisite. Even the sponge cake base was delicious on its own.

Chewing on his spoon, Su Wenyu checked the date, mentally planning to buy another small cake on his way home tonight.

After finishing a slice of mango mousse, the four bowls of shaved ice were prepared and brought over.

“Here you are. Please enjoy,” the young waitress said with a smile.

Su Wenyu thanked her and scooped up a spoonful of the shaved ice.

He had truly never eaten shaved ice before. A single bite—that icy, refreshing taste—had his eyes lighting up. Unable to help himself, he lowered his head and downed several consecutive mouthfuls.

Xu Ran emerged from the kitchen, taking off his mask and hat. Spotting the spread of shaved-ice bowls on Su Wenyu’s table, he frowned, glancing at Zhou Xu. “He ordered all that?”

Zhou Xu swept a glance in that direction and untied his apron. “Let him be. Come on, let’s go eat.”

Xu Ran didn’t press further.

The staff meals were eaten in a small lounge in the back. When customer traffic was low, they rotated in to eat: each person got a boxed meal with two vegetable dishes and one meat dish, plus a bowl of seaweed and egg-drop soup.

Zhou Xu and Xu Ran had big appetites; they usually ate two portions each.

As Xu Ran shoveled rice into his mouth, he fished for gossip from Zhou Xu. “So, you and that… guy… how are things between you two going?”

When Zhou Xu had been reclaimed by the Su family, it had initially shocked Xu Ran before it felt like a dream—his brother, suddenly transformed into a wealthy young master.

But Zhou Xu didn’t act like a rich heir at all. Knowing Xu Ran was short-staffed, he’d specifically come to help, which deeply moved Xu Ran.

Now, encountering the young master who’d been swapped at birth up close, Xu Ran’s inner gossip-geek was ablaze: “I saw him holding a food box just now. Was he here to bring you lunch? Are you two… on good terms? Or is he trying to suck up to you?”

Zhou Xu swallowed his food, realizing none of Xu Ran’s questions had answers he could provide. He simply said, “Don’t mind him.”

Xu Ran blinked. I wasn’t minding him. I was asking about you.

But since Zhou Xu wasn’t forthcoming, Xu Ran wisely dropped the subject.

They hadn’t had more than a few seconds of quiet, however, before a frantic knocking sounded at the door. A young waitress, not even waiting for a response, pushed the door open with a panicked expression. “Shop Owner! A customer just suddenly said they have a terrible stomachache after eating, and now they’re almost passing out from the pain!”

Xu Ran’s face paled. He immediately dropped his lunch and rushed for the door. “Which customer? What exactly happened?”

The waitress was nearly in tears. “I don’t know the specifics! This young guy, his face went white all of a sudden, he was clutching his stomach, and he collapsed onto the table. I only noticed when I realized something was wrong and went to check on him, and he said his stomach hurt.”

Zhou Xu quickly tidied the table and followed to assess the situation.

If someone suddenly fell ill after eating in the dessert shop—even if it wasn’t the food’s fault—it was bound to affect the other customers. Emergency protocols needed to be initiated immediately.

And then, the moment Zhou Xu stepped out, he saw Xu Ran’s steps falter. Xu Ran turned back to look at him, a hesitant look on his face.

Zhou Xu’s eyelid twitched. Instinctively, he knew this incident was about to be his problem again.

As it turned out, his instincts were dead right.

His gaze cut toward that corner table, where a slender figure was hunched over, clutching his stomach and slumped against the tabletop. In such severe pain, even the fingertips resting on the table trembled uncontrollably.

As if sensing his arrival, the person at the table forced his head up with great effort and glanced his way. Instantly, his eyes reddened. In a trembling voice, he whimpered, “Brother… my stomach hurts so much.”

Zhou Xu surveyed the table—all four empty cake plates and four empty shaved-ice bowls. After a beat of silence, he corrected flatly, “That’s your stomach.”

Xu Ran: “…”

He was aghast. “THAT’S what you’re focusing on?!”

Clearly, their relationship was about as harmonious as he’d feared.