Chapter 36 Part 1

After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms to rest. Chu Yi and Yu Qingxian were naturally assigned rooms as well.

Knock knock knock. A knocking sound came from the door. Chu Yi went over and opened it, not at all surprised to find President Yu there.

When Yu Qingxian saw his appearance, he was also startled. “You, why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

Chu Yi was only wearing a pair of pajama pants from head to toe. His hair and upper body were still dripping wet, clearly from having just taken a shower. But it was already autumn now—even if it was a bit hot during the day, the temperature dropped once night fell. Wasn’t he cold dressed like that?

Chu Yi truly wasn’t cold. In fact, he felt very hot, a restless flush rising on his face. “It’s a bit hot. Doesn’t President Yu feel hot?”

As he fanned himself with a little booklet, he looked Yu Qingxian up and down, his eyes even drifting toward his lower regions.

Yu Qingxian felt very embarrassed under his gaze and resisted the urge to cover his crotch with his hand. “I’m not hot.”

Chu Yi raised an eyebrow. “Really not hot? Everything we ate tonight was quite tonic-heavy…”

The implication was that if President Yu felt nothing, wasn’t that a bit abnormal?

From the moment he entered, Yu Qingxian had been desperately avoiding glances at his body. Hearing this, his ears turned even redder, and he snapped in embarrassed anger, “I’m not some young kid like you. With experience, it won’t happen!”

Chu Yi was stunned for a moment. “So President Yu has a girlfriend?”

Last time Ouyang Yuyuan had said that, he thought President Yu was single.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable inside. Even his steaming hot body cooled down considerably.

“No, that’s not what I meant…” Yu Qingxian knew he had misunderstood. The experience he referred to wasn’t that kind of experience.

His family’s old man also loved health tonics. Plus, with his big brother nearly forty and still single, the old man had once suspected something was wrong with him. Thus, deer antler, sheep kidneys, and small seahorses frequently appeared on their dinner table. His big brother was the type to drag his younger brother down with him too—after being forced to tonic up so many times, he seemed to have gotten used to it.

Yu Qingxian wanted to explain clearly, but Chu Yi waved his hand first and interrupted with an awkward smile. “President Yu doesn’t need to explain so much to me. We’re all adults; I understand.”

Not a girlfriend? Then a boyfriend? Or maybe one of those no-strings-attached relationships modern people liked?

In any case, it was President Yu’s private matter. He had already overstepped by blurting it out—couldn’t he see how embarrassed President Yu was? Better not to make things awkward for everyone.

Yu Qingxian’s heart sank. His eyes slowly slid across Chu Yi’s face before he lowered his long lashes and blinked, softly murmuring, “Mm.”

Chu Yi probably felt the atmosphere was a bit strange and quickly put on a smile. “President Yu coming over at this hour—is he scared? No worries, I have a sofa in my room. If President Yu doesn’t mind, I’ll sleep on the sofa, you take the bed. We can squeeze in for the night.”

He was obviously joking, but Yu Qingxian didn’t deny it. “How could you have Old Zheng find so many snakes? It’s pretty creepy.”

Just think about it—a bunch of live snakes staying in the same house as them. Anyone with a slightly sensitive mind wouldn’t dare close their eyes to sleep. Unfortunately, President Yu was exactly that type.

Chu Yi touched his nose. “My mistake.”

If he had known President Yu was afraid of snakes, he would have used other animals as substitutes for Zheng Elder’s Family. But snakes had the best effect and were the easiest to obtain, so that was what he chose.

Chu Yi couldn’t help but comfort him. “There should be results before midnight. President Yu, just bear with it a bit.”

Yu Qingxian chuckled helplessly. “I just don’t dare sleep alone. It hasn’t gotten that bad yet.”

Neither of them felt sleepy, so they sat on the sofa and chatted. Strangely enough, when President Yu had turned into an item beside Chu Yi, they always had endless topics to discuss. Like before, when he became Chu Yi’s phone, the two of them had looked at antique brochures half the night, citing classics and discussing historical dynasties, religious origins, and folk strange tales—feeling extremely in sync.

Now that they sat face-to-face with the cool night outside the window, they both seemed a bit ill at ease. Chu Yi even found an excuse to put on a shirt.

As they desperately searched for topics, a woman’s sharp scream suddenly came from downstairs. Chu Yi perked up. “It’s here!”

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief before hurrying downstairs one after the other.

By then, the Zheng Family members had also been alarmed. Old Zheng was a bit slower due to his age, but Zheng Yongming and Zheng Danrui clearly hadn’t been asleep. When Chu Yi and the others arrived, they were already neatly dressed and waiting at the door, just not daring to go in.

“Master, should I have the bodyguards ram the door open now?” Zheng Yongming asked. He had just tried the door and found it locked from the inside.

Chu Yi nodded. “Ram it.”

Zheng Yongming then instructed the bodyguards to do so. As soon as the door was battered open, two men eagerly rushed out from inside, shouting “Monster!” and “Snakes!” They were clearly badly frightened.