Chapter 58

Xu Er had to work overtime again.

However, knowing that Song Ruichi would be coming back the next day, he didn't grumble nearly as much about staying late.

After going home and taking a shower that evening, Xu Er comfortably climbed into bed with Soso and made a video call to Song Ruichi.

"Hello," Xu Er said in a very cheerful tone as the call connected.

But the next second, he gasped, "Oh my god."

Song Ruichi was in the bathroom. The screen delivered an instant critical hit—the man was brushing his teeth completely naked.

Xu Er patted Soso's head. "Look at your dad."

Soso's dad chuckled, found a spot to prop up his phone, and left it there.

As for the camera angle, Xu Er strongly suspected Song Ruichi did it on purpose, framing him in that exact position.

Hmph, men.

"You'll be at the company tomorrow morning, right?" Song Ruichi asked from the other end.

Xu Er replied, "I will? Why?"

Song Ruichi said, "Bought some snacks for you over here."

Xu Er let out an "Ooh."

Since it would arrive by tomorrow morning, it must have been shipped via express delivery to ensure it was fresh, and Xu Er instantly started craving it. "What is it?"

Song Ruichi answered, "It's me."

Xu Er laughed. "Deep-fried Song Ruichi or pan-seared Song Ruichi?"

Song Ruichi asked, "How do you like it prepared?"

Xu Er thought about it and said, "Deep-fried, I suppose. Smells more fragrant. Then sprinkle some cumin powder and add a bit of chili."

At the mention of this, Xu Er gave a subtle little slurp of saliva.

Song Ruichi burst into laughter. "You really want to eat me?"

Xu Er said, "I do."

Song Ruichi asked, "Eat where?"

It took Xu Er a moment to process the double meaning, and he hurriedly scooped up Soso again. "Look at your dad."

Song Ruichi spat out his mouthful of toothpaste foam and asked Xu Er, "Did your mom go back?"

Xu Er nodded. "She did. She went back with my aunt after the banquet."

Song Ruichi asked, "Is your aunt doing okay?"

Xu Er replied, "She's fine now. She felt much better after the IV drip, and her check-up results were completely normal."

"Oh, right," Xu Er said suddenly.

On the other end, Song Ruichi lowered his water glass slightly.

Xu Er continued, "That milk tea shop you always order from for me—they just opened a branch right downstairs from my company, and it opens tomorrow."

Song Ruichi hummed in acknowledgment.

Xu Er said, "It'll be even more convenient from now on."

Song Ruichi hummed again.

Since Song Ruichi was about to take a shower, Xu Er hung up the phone.

Originally, Song Ruichi had invited Xu Er to watch, but Xu Er simply hadn't had the nerve.

However, once the bedroom grew quiet and only Soso was left by his side, Xu Er began to regret it.

Such a prime opportunity to watch a handsome man bathe, and he had wasted it on sleeping—Xu Er, just what are you actually good for!

He went to work as usual the next day, but because Song Ruichi was returning in the afternoon, Xu Er couldn't focus at all the entire morning, sneaking off to slack off whenever he got the chance.

He also asked Song Ruichi for the tracking number, checking the mini-program every now and then to refresh the status.

A little past ten o'clock, the delivery finally arrived at the office.

Song Ruichi had even considered Xu Er's colleagues; the package he sent was a huge box containing several large packs of goose meat.

The previously dull office instantly livened up thanks to Xu Er and Song Ruichi.

Naturally, someone immediately asked, "Xu Er, who sent this to you?"

So Xu Er replied, "My partner. He's away on a business trip."

Amid a mix of surprise and good-natured teasing, everyone began to cheer and shout their thanks to Xu Er and Xu Er's partner, praising what a great partner he was.

Then followed a string of remarks starting with "No wonder."

"No wonder you've been looking so sweet lately."

"No wonder you were unusually quiet for a while before."

"No wonder your complexion has been so good recently, looking so radiant."
……

Xu Er happily accepted every single compliment!

That being the case, since the milk tea shop downstairs was opening today anyway, Xu Er decided to treat everyone to milk tea as well.

Because of this little episode, the news that Xiao Xu from the design department was officially taken spread very quickly.

So quickly that the goose meat in Xiao Xu's hands was almost not enough to distribute.

When he went to the cafeteria for lunch, he bumped into Xiao He, and consequently, his share of the goose meat was completely wiped out.

Yet Xiao He didn't eat that goose meat for free; he traded it by sharing some juicy gossip with Xu Er.

An irrelevant aside:
Xiao He's gaydar was truly mediocre—he hadn't even been able to figure out whether Xu Er swung that way.

Back to the main point.

Xiao He said that Xiao Min from the next department was facing a crisis because her boyfriend was getting married.

This news tied Xu Er's brain into a knot.

The following conversation ensued.

Xu Er: "Getting married?"

Xiao He: "Yes, getting married."

Xu Er: "To Xiao Min?"

Xiao He: "No, to someone else."

Xu Er: "To someone else? A woman?"

Xiao He: "Exactly."

Xu Er's head was full of question marks.

Xiao He chuckled and filled Xu Er in on some details he had only learned yesterday.

"Xiao Min's boyfriend actually used to like women, and he'd had girlfriends. Later on, he was bent by Xiao Min," Xiao He asked Xu Er, "You know what being 'bent' means, right?"

As if.

Xu Er: "I know."

Xiao He continued, "Remember when they were acting up about breaking up before? It was because his family arranged blind dates for him, and her boyfriend didn't refuse. Every time they introduced one, he went to meet her. The more he went on blind dates, the more tantrums Xiao Min threw."

Xu Er let out an "ah." For some reason, he suddenly thought of yesterday's dinner with Hu Yue.

"Then how can he get married?" Xu Er asked, deeply puzzled. "Did they break up?"

Xiao He: "They broke up just moments ago, and right after that, her boyfriend posted his engagement photos on Moments."

Xu Er: "…"

Xu Er: "How could he do that? That's too much."

Xiao He: "Totally."

Xu Er asked, "Does that girl know?"

Xiao He: "Well, that I don't know."

Xu Er knitted his brows and muttered once more, "So awful."

Xu Er and Xiao Min shared a slight acquaintance, and because of this, throughout his free time at work that afternoon, he kept recalling the matter.

It felt rather sigh-worthy.

Song Ruichi landed in City A in the afternoon, after which he headed straight to the studio, attended a meeting, and then went to a business dinner.

It was already past eight o'clock when he finally got home.

The moment the door opened, both Xu Er and Soso were waiting in the entryway, and Xu Er gave him a big hug.

"Thanks for all the hard work," Xu Er said.

Song Ruichi stroked Xu Er's head. "Hardly any work at all."

Just before Song Ruichi came home, Xu Er had been grinding coffee beans. It was just about ready now, so Xu Er pulled Song Ruichi over.

"It's definitely going to be good," Xu Er said. "Please take a seat, Teacher Song."

Song Ruichi sat down accordingly.

Xu Er fussed over it for a couple more minutes before placing a cup of coffee in front of Song Ruichi. "Please enjoy, Teacher Song."

Song Ruichi let it cool for a moment, lowered his head, and took a first sip.

Before he even said anything upon looking up, Xu Er raised an eyebrow.

Song Ruichi smiled. "You're quite confident."

Xu Er: "Joking aside."

Song Ruichi nodded. "It really is delicious."

Then, without missing a beat, he leaned over and kissed Xu Er.

Xu Er protested, "It being delicious is one thing, why are you kissing me?"

Song Ruichi: "Just wanted to."

Xu Er poured a cup for himself as well, and then said, "When I was having lunch with my mom yesterday noon, she brought a young woman along."

Song Ruichi nearly choked on his sip of coffee.

Instead of looking at Xu Er, he set his cup down.

Xu Er continued, "You know, the one who came to my house when my nephew turned one, the blind date you mentioned."

Only then did Song Ruichi direct his gaze back to Xu Er's face. "What are you trying to say?"

Xu Er thought about it. "I'm not trying to say anything in particular. Honestly, I felt there was nothing worth mentioning, and it wasn't really a blind date anyway. That girl is a nurse at the People's Hospital and helped my aunt out, so my mom invited her to join us for lunch. Besides, I only realized she had brought someone else along when I met up with my mom. I've already told my mom not to pull stunts like that anymore."

"However," Xu Er leaned in closer, "Song Ruichi, I heard the most absurd story today."

And so, with an utterly incredulous tone, Xu Er recounted Xiao Min's story to Song Ruichi.

It sounded like a completely random and abrupt tangent.

Yet Song Ruichi understood precisely what message Xu Er was trying to convey to him.

Song Ruichi finally managed to drink his mouthful of coffee in peace. "You scared the life out of me."

Xu Er looked perplexed. "Huh? What was scary about it?"

Refusing to specify what had frightened him, Song Ruichi only said, "Come here and give me a kiss."

Before Xu Er could refuse, he was already being pulled over.

And with Xu Er's slow-witted brain, it wasn't until Song Ruichi went to take a shower that a loud "Oh!" suddenly dawned on him.

He had finally figured out what Song Ruichi meant by "You scared the life out of me."

So when Song Ruichi stepped out of the bathroom looking warm and refreshed, Xu Er dashed over and literally hung himself onto Song Ruichi.

Song Ruichi was pushed back half a step by the impact, but he steadily caught Xu Er in his arms.

"So enthusiastic?" Song Ruichi asked.

Xu Er: "Yes."

Song Ruichi: "What do you want to do?"

"I want to do—" Xu Er caught himself. "Oh no, wait, let's do it later."

Hearing his own words, Xu Er's face flushed a deep crimson.

What on earth was he even saying?

Song Ruichi was amused by Xu Er's earnest slip of the tongue.

He carried Xu Er to the edge of the bed, half-knelt as he dropped him onto the mattress, and climbed up after him.

"What is it?" Song Ruichi pinched Xu Er's chin.

Xu Er circled back to Song Ruichi's earlier remark: "Why did you say you were scared to death just now?"

A slow smile spread across Song Ruichi's face. "What do you think?"

Xu Er: "You didn't think I betrayed you, did you?"

Song Ruichi let out a soft sigh. "Actually, I knew you had lunch with that girl."

Xu Er was astonished. "Huh? How did you know?"

Song Ruichi: "The person who added me after the last competition saw you."

Xu Er remembered now—that person worked at the art training center right next to the restaurant.

Xu Er: "He told you?"

Song Ruichi: "He sent me a photo of the two of you eating together."

Xu Er: "Is there something wrong with him?"

Song Ruichi: "I've already deleted him."

Xu Er: "Why didn't you ask me about it?"

Song Ruichi: "I…"

It was a rare moment for Song Ruichi to find himself at a loss for words.

He smiled faintly and buried his face in Xu Er's shoulder.

"I trusted you, so I didn't ask," Song Ruichi murmured against his skin. "And I didn't want to hear you talking about having a meal with another woman, especially with your mom right there."

Xu Er let out a long "Ah," finally starting to understand. "Trusting me was the right call."

Xu Er spoke with absolute conviction, and Song Ruichi laughed again.

Song Ruichi: "Alright."

Xu Er: "I'm going to start a speech now."

Song Ruichi smiled. "What kind of speech?"

Xu Er cleared his throat. "Ahem."

Song Ruichi leaned sideways, propping his head up with one hand, looking entirely ready to lend an attentive ear.

Xu Er: "I haven't told you yet what I was thinking during those days when I was ignoring you before."

Song Ruichi: "No, you haven't."

There had been nothing much to say back then.

But now, he was going to tell him.

"Let's trace the timeline," Xu Er drew a line in the air with his finger. "Back on the high-speed train, you told me you had someone you had a crush on, but you wouldn't say who it was. So at the time, I actually felt a bit uncomfortable. Later on, when I looked back on it, I realized that discomfort was probably because you liked someone else, and I was feeling a little jealous."