On this side, Lu Yuxing was busy in the kitchen while Shang Jue sat glued to his chair, sulking.
Before long, Shang Jue heard the sizzling and popping sounds of cooking from the kitchen. The range hood was on, but a slightly pungent smell of chili still wafted out.
Shang Jue raised an eyebrow, liberated himself from the chair, and walked into the kitchen. He saw chopped chilies on the cutting board and a small handful of small chili peppers added to the pot.
He glanced at Lu Yuxing. This guy actually looked quite competent while cooking.
“Baby, didn’t you say you don’t eat spicy food?”
While City A wasn’t as heavy on oil and spice as many southern cities, there was still some green and red chili added to the dishes. Shang Jue was a local, having grown up here his whole life. Lu Yuxing had moved here from out of town for high school; Shang Jue didn’t know where he came from, only that he couldn’t handle spicy food at all and could barely manage a bit of Guangdong-style mild spice.
Lu Yuxing replied, “But you eat spicy food, right?”
Shang Jue countered, “What are you talking about? Of course, I can eat spicy food, so I’ll accommodate your preference. Don’t add any more later.”
Lu Yuxing glanced back at him and said, “Okay.”
He continued to stir the food, busying himself.
Shang Jue leaned against the counter, lost in thought as he watched Lu Yuxing's profile.
In his life, he hadn’t seen many people cook. Shang Xinrong was a typical patriarch who rarely stepped into the kitchen. Chen Xuerong hated cooking even more than Shang Xinrong did; after getting married, she quickly hired a housekeeper.
Shang Jue had seen that housekeeper cooking in the kitchen; she worked quickly and was organized despite the chaos.
However, Lu Yuxing’s cooking felt entirely different. There was no “chaos”; everything was done at a leisurely pace, yet the efficiency was still high.
After a while, Shang Jue felt a bit uncomfortable just watching Lu Yuxing busy himself. It didn’t seem right, and he felt anxious.
So he decided to stop watching and planned to head back to his room to do some studying while waiting for dinner.
Before he could speak, Lu Yuxing turned down the heat, looking over at him.
Shang Jue: ?
Lu Yuxing was actually looking at the bottle of soy sauce he had just bought, which was blocked by Shang Jue.
They were close, and without moving his feet, he leaned slightly and reached his arm around Shang Jue's waist, accurately grabbing the seasoning.
Shang Jue froze for a moment, and after a few seconds, he snapped back from the illusion of being hugged, quickly finding an excuse to leave: “Oh, baby, I’m just in the way here. You take your time; I won’t stay and be a nuisance.”
Lu Yuxing had just peeled off the seal on the lid and wanted to say something, but by the time he finished speaking, Shang Jue had already left.
“……” He turned back to scan the empty kitchen, his finger slowing down as it lingered on the plastic pull tab of the soy sauce bottle.
He actually quite liked having someone beside him getting in the way.
……
By nearly eight o’clock, Lu Yuxing heard the doorbell and thought Shang Jue had stepped out while he wasn’t paying attention.
He didn’t think much of it and turned off the heat, leaving the kitchen.
When he opened the door, a huge cake box suddenly pushed into his view.
“Surpri—”
He Yang's loud voice suddenly came to a halt.
He stood facing Lu Yuxing, separated by a matte gray and white cake box, both of them staring at each other in silence.
He Yang: “……”
He silently lowered the box from under Lu Yuxing's chin and replaced it with a polite tone: “Excuse me, is Shang Jue here?”
“Yeah,” Lu Yuxing leaned to the side a bit. “Please come in?”
Though he said to come in, He Yang didn’t know which foot to step into this unfamiliar home, nor did he know where in the room his brother—who felt so strange to him—might be hiding.
At that moment, Shang Jue came out of his bedroom and saw He Yang at his doorstep.
He Yáng’s expression was almost screaming “I have something to say, but I can't!”
Shang Jue cleared his throat with a fist against his mouth but couldn’t find the words. No matter how he explained, it felt awkward.
His gaze flicked to the large cake in He Yang’s hands, and his temples throbbed. “How big is this cake?”
“I forgot if it’s ten or twelve inches…”
Shang Jue felt exasperated with this clueless guy who had money to spare. “You bought it this big? Who can finish it?”
He Yang felt a bit wronged by this comment: “I was just thinking about your birthday! You’re my brother, of course, I want to give you a grand celebration. Besides, what’s so big about this cake? I usually order several tiers for my own birthday. And also…”
He paused for two seconds, his hesitation clearly mischievous.
“And also, there’s another person in your house! I think it should be enough.”
Shang Jue: “……”
It was rare for He Yang to stump Shang Jue to the point of speechlessness. For a moment, He Yang felt triumphant, his expression lively and full of joy.
Lu Yuxing vaguely sensed that their conversation was a bit strange, but since he wasn’t familiar with He Yang, he didn’t think too much about it. Instead, he turned to ask Shang Jue, “Should I add another dish?”
He Yang cooked quite a bit, but with three twenty-year-old men, you could never be sure how much they could eat.
After a moment of hesitation, Shang Jue said, “... Add it, baby”
He Yang listened from the side, trying hard to suppress his rising smile, his face glowing with joy.
Lu Yuxing went back into the kitchen.
The remaining two exchanged glances, each silent.
He Yang’s mouth twitched slightly.
“Puhahahaha!!” He finally burst into an unrestrained laugh.
“……”
After laughing, He Yang beamed as he wrapped his arms around Shang Jue’s shoulders, lowering his voice so Lu Yuxing wouldn’t hear: “You’ve really settled down with him, huh?”
Shang Jue’s face instantly fell long.
He Yang oblivious to the situation, laughed even louder.
This time, even Lu Yuxing in the kitchen heard him. He didn’t understand why He Yang was laughing, only thinking that Shang Jue must be having a good time with him.
The two had a great relationship, largely thanks to He Yang. With Shang Jue's personality, he could get along well with most people around him, yet he had become good brothers with He Yang.
Lu Yuxing even felt that Shang Jue seemed more relaxed around He Yang than he was around him. It appeared that Shang Jue enjoyed spending time with this carefree guy, which made him feel at ease. Just like Wang Yuanzhou, who had the nickname “Class Leader’s Foster Father” in Class Seven, and the last time he went out with Shang Jue after the midterms, Xiao Mifeng...
Xiao Mifeng’s personality was a bit like He Yang’s—both were quite easygoing... Lu Yuxing remembered that Shang Jue seemed to have a great time last time they went out after midterms.
He thought that if Shang Jue were still living in Room 323, he’d probably get along well with Ge Zhicheng.
A loud laugh came from outside, giving Lu Yuxing a headache.
In the living room, He Yang was overjoyed, while Shang Jue tried to stuff a big piece of dried mango into his mouth but couldn’t silence him.
“Don’t tell me you’re playing house this time? You even brought a person back...”
“……”
“Hahaha!” He Yang laughed even louder, “Shang Shang, your wife is really virtuous!”
As soon as Shang Jue heard this, his brows furrowed.
He Yang was still laughing when he casually glanced at Lu Yuxing, who had just come out of the kitchen. His smile instantly froze as if someone had grabbed him by the throat, going silent like a chicken.
But that sentence clearly reached Lu Yuxing’s ears.
Both expressionless faces turned to look at He Yáng, who gulped down hard, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words.
He went quiet, and Shang Jue sensed something was off. He turned to meet Lu Yuxing's gaze.
Calling a man “wife” would naturally make anyone uncomfortable. As for “virtuous,” in today’s world, whether male or female, hearing that description would create a sense of unease.
That one sentence had stepped on a landmine. Shang Jue couldn’t tell which term upset Lu Yuxing more.
“Dinner’s ready,” Lu Yuxing said, his voice surprisingly calm.
At the dining table, He Yang nervously moved his rice bowl, filled with self-doubt: Why did I come here just to deliver a cake to my good brother? Why am I sitting here suffering?
Shang Jue felt uneasy too.
He had played a prank on Lu Yuxing out of fun, but it wasn’t meant for him to come to his house to do laundry and cook while being humiliated...
Suddenly, he felt a gentle poke on his arm.
He turned his head. Lu Yuxing was looking at him, quietly asking, “Not to your taste?”
Shang Jue was taken aback and quickly replied, “How could it be? Baby your cooking is amazing...”
He instinctively spoke without realizing He Yang was still at the table, pausing before looking up.
He Yang had his eyes closed, pretending not to hear, obediently eating his rice.
“……”
Lu Yuxing’s scrambled eggs were a bit too much, and the three of them managed to finish most of the dishes, leaving only a small Black Forest cake.
The large cake that He Yang brought, whether it was ten or twelve inches, had to be taken back with him as a late-night snack for the students in the dormitory.
Shang Jue said to Lu Yuxing, “It’s pretty late; babe, you should head back.”
Lu Yuxing replied, “The kitchen...”
Shang Jue interrupted, “I’ll clean up.”
After all, the person cooked and even left the dishes for others to wash. That’s just rude.
Lu Yuxing frowned. No one liked someone who hurried to take on work for them, but since today was Shang Jue’s birthday, it was unreasonable to make the birthday boy wash the dishes.
He Yang stood up, “Then I’ll—”
Shang Jue interrupted again, “You stay to wash the dishes.”
He Yang: “... Fine.”
Shang Jue walked Lu Yuxing to his doorstep, thought for a moment, took a step outside, closed the door, and left He Yang alone in the house.
Seeing this, Lu Yuxing understood that Shang Jue probably had something to say. “What’s wrong?”
Shang Jue lowered his gaze, looking to the side. “About that ‘wife’ and ‘virtuous’ thing, don’t take it to heart. That guy is just talking nonsense.”
“…”
“Shang Jue.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you think I care about this?”
Shang Jue slowly lifted his eyelashes and affirmed with a soft "ah."
A glimmer of amusement flickered in Lu Yuxing's eyes as he grabbed Shang Jue's wrist and leaned down to kiss the corner of his mouth lightly.
“Alright, I’m off, husband.”
“…”
After Lu Yuxing walked away, Shang Jue slowly raised his hand, fingers pressed together, covering half of his face on both sides of his nose.
He stood still for half a minute when suddenly the door behind him burst open, slamming against his back.
Shang Jue almost fell over from the impact.
Inside, He Yang was startled. “Sorry, I saw you close the door, and I didn’t know where you two went, so… Damn, Shang Jue, your face is so red! What kind of scandalous thing did you do outside with him?!”
Sighing, Shang Jue turned and walked into the house.
His ears were flushed, and he looked at He Yang with a hint of annoyance. “Do you know why?”
He Yang shook his head.
Shang Jue slowly began, “A long, long time ago, there was a ghost wandering the world, feeding on the pure hearts of humans. One day, the ghost encountered a young scholar. The scholar was unmarried, with a pure character, so the ghost believed he had an innocent heart and devised a way to trick the scholar into giving him his heart.”
“Guess what happened in the end?”
He Yang's eyes widened with curiosity. “What happened?”
Shang Jue's expression turned a bit eerie. “The ghost was poisoned by the scholar's heart.”
“Ah? Why?” He Yang asked, confused. “Wait, what are you really trying to say?”
Shang Jue gritted his teeth and said, “The ghost realized that this guy was actually so lewd!”
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