Chapter 75

Chapter 75

After Shen Yan's phone call with Shu Qianfei, Shen Lin's face fell, and he gave Shen Yan a look filled with resentment.

"No, I have to talk to Mom myself. How can Mom leave you alone in Zhu City?"

Shen Yan placed a hand on his shoulder. "This time, it's not Mom's fault. Your teacher personally called her and said that your test on Monday is very important and you can't miss it."

Shen Yan guessed that it was probably because of the selection for the competition class, which was why they were being so cautious.

"It's just a test, how can it compare to your safety?" Shen Lin still struggled, unwilling to give up.

Shen Yan found it somewhat amusing. "How am I not safe here? With Madame She around? Even if Madame She can't take care of me, there's still Fang Jin."

Shen Lin huffed and gave him a sideways glance. "First it was Hu Chengyu, now it's Fang Jin. Do I even have a place in your heart?"

Shen Yan raised a hand to his forehead. Who has a younger brother who acts like a girlfriend throwing a tantrum?

Oh, me.

Shen Yan had no choice but to comfort him. "I'm only pretending to be close with them. It's only you I'm truly close with."

Although Shen Lin knew Shen Yan was just using an internet meme to comfort him, hearing those words still made him feel comforted.

Soothed by the sweet words, Shen Lin dropped his bratty act and spoke seriously. "You're right. With Madame She and Brother Fang Jin here, I'm indeed relieved."

"But if you're flying alone, what if you suddenly feel unwell or have a medical episode?"

Shen Yan sighed softly. "First of all, my health now isn't so fragile that I need to go to the hospital for every little thing. Besides, there are flight attendants on the plane, and I'll be extra careful."

"If I really need someone to accompany me, I can ask Brother Fang Jin to take me to the airport without feeling embarrassed."

"When I get to Jing City, I can even invite Fang Jin to tour around the city, as a way to thank him for taking us around these past two days."

Although Shen Lin was convinced in his heart, he still couldn't resist teasing with his words. "Alright, alright, you're right about everything."

"Hmph, you only see the new person smiling, but you don't hear your little brother crying."

As he spoke, he grabbed a cup of water, splashed it on his face, and pretended to cry.

Unfortunately, he didn't control the water well, and most of it spilled onto the bed.

Shen Yan exclaimed, "Shen Lin!"

Shen Lin, with water stains all over his face, looked innocent.

This wasn't a hotel, so changing the sheets or comforter would definitely disturb the butler and disrupt Madame She's rest.

"Tonight, you're sleeping in my room."

Shen Lin's eyes lit up. Without Hu Chengyu around, he could finally share a bed with his brother.

Shen Yan went back to his room first, while Shen Lin needed to pack his suitcase and would join him shortly.

Since they rarely stayed together, Shen Lin became childishly excited, stuffing things into his suitcase without much thought. He took a photo of his messy suitcase and another of the scattered stars in the sky, then posted them on his social media.

The caption was a [Goodbye] emoji.

Several night owls, after seeing his post on WeChat Moments, asked when he'd be back in Jing City.

Even one of his classmates commented with a mischievous grin, "Brother Lin, looks like you can't escape the exams!"

Lu Zhao also saw the post, and probably because so many people were asking, Shen Lin replied: "Back tomorrow."

Holding his phone, Lu Zhao knocked on Hu Chengyu's door, his face filled with excitement. "Bro, Yan Yan and the others are returning to Jing City tomorrow!"

Hu Chengyu glanced at him. "It's Sunday tomorrow. Shen Lin is a high school student; what's the problem with him returning tomorrow?"

Lu Zhao: ...

Hu Chengyu: "Did Shen Lin say what time their flight is?"

Lu Zhao checked Shen Lin's post again and sighed, "He didn't mention the time."

Without needing any prompting from Hu Chengyu, Lu Zhao slunk back to his room, feeling deflated.

The moment Lu Zhao got back to his room, he received a message from Hu Chengyu: "I'm flying back at 3:25 PM tomorrow."

Lu Zhao paused for a moment, immediately guessing that this must be the same flight as Yan Yan's group.

The coach from A University had booked an early morning flight for 10 AM.

Lu Zhao wasn't worried about how Hu Chengyu would explain things to the coach. After all, Hu Chengyu's status was special. Even if he stayed in Zhu City for a few more days, he could submit a leave note later, and the coach wouldn't say anything.

But he was curious: "Bro, how did you know what time Yan Yan’s flight is? Did you have someone look it up?"

Hu Chengyu replied, "Just a guess."

Lu Zhao hesitated for a moment before asking, "What if you’re wrong?"

Hu Chengyu: "I'll go back alone. Is there a problem?"

Of course, there wasn't a problem. After all, since the age of fourteen, Hu Chengyu had been going on personal trips every year. Especially since starting university, Hu Tianhong has been deliberately training Hu Chengyu to handle business negotiations on his own.

Lu Zhao asked, "Bro, should I stick around and keep you company?"

Hu Chengyu: "Shen Lin’s already bright enough. Add you, and we’ll both be a distraction."

Lu Zhao thought for a moment and realized that Hu Chengyu was indirectly calling him and Shen Lin a distraction.

Meanwhile, Shen Lin lay beside his brother, feeling completely at ease.

His brother smelled nice.

*

In the dim light of the small night lamp, Shen Lin stared at Shen Yan's face. He wondered if his brother's face was soft.

After staring for a while, Shen Lin felt an itch to touch.

Shen Yan, listening to the breathing beside him, knew Shen Lin wasn't asleep.

But Shen Yan was too exhausted to deal with him. Still, Shen Lin wasn’t about to let that stop him—he took the chance to pinch his brother’s face!

Shen Yan opened his eyes, surprised, and wondered if his little brother had lost it.

However, after seeing Shen Yan wake up, Shen Lin not only didn’t remove his hand but also pinched him two more times.

Shen Yan immediately frowned, his expression turning sour.

Shen Lin had no choice but to retract his hand and muttered in an extremely low voice, "Really benefiting Hu Chengyu..."

Shen Yan raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "What?"

"N-nothing," Shen Lin pulled the blanket over himself, closed his eyes, and indicated that he was going to sleep.

After Shen Yan closed his eyes again, he remained alert to Shen Lin’s every move, but Shen Lin behaved so well that Shen Yan couldn’t catch him doing anything wrong.

Instead, Shen Yan couldn’t fight off the drowsiness and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Shen Lin, listening to the even and prolonged breathing beside him, opened his eyes.

Reflecting on the recent changes between him and Shen Yan, it felt like a beautiful dream.

No one knew that he often dreamed of sitting in a wheelchair, guarding a pale-faced Shen Yan.

The oversized patient's clothes made Shen Yan appear even more emaciated.

Previously, his dreams only featured him and Shen Yan, but since arriving in Zhu City, Madam She began appearing in them as well.

In the dream, Madam She looked older, with silver-white hair and a face that always carried an inseparable sadness.

Then he muttered under his breath, "Sure, others can show up, but why not Hu Chengyu?"

Shen Lin suddenly grabbed the phone from the bedside table, put it on silent mode, and took a picture of himself and Shen Yan together, sending it to Hu Chengyu.

He hadn’t forgotten how Hu Chengyu had repeatedly stopped him from sharing a bed with his brother at Hu Chengyu’s place!

He was determined to drive Hu Chengyu crazy!

Hu Chengyu, who was still awake dealing with some matters, saw the picture sent by Shen Lin and paused for a moment.

He brought the phone closer to his face and zoomed in on Shen Yan to examine him carefully.

Even in the dim light, Hu Chengyu could still count Shen Yan’s eyelashes in the sleeping photo.

After a moment, Hu Chengyu sent a reply to Shen Lin.

Shen Lin saw Hu Chengyu’s message and felt a bit smug, but when he saw the content, he was so angry that he wanted to throw his phone away!

Hu Chengyu had cropped out most of Shen Lin's part in the photo and blurred the remaining part with mosaic.

Shen Lin pressed against Shen Yan and took several more pictures to send over.

You think you can edit them out?

Here, have so many, take your time!

Hu Chengyu quickly clicked to save each photo as they appeared, afraid that Shen Lin would realize it was a trick and retract the photos.

Although Shen Lin was a bit impulsive, he soon realized what was happening.

As Hu Chengyu saved the last photo, Shen Lin quickly started retracting his messages.

Seeing this, Hu Chengyu sincerely thanked him, "Thanks, I managed to save them."

But to Shen Lin, these simple words were a blatant provocation.

If Shen Yan weren't sleeping next to him, Shen Lin might have been tempted to tear up the bed in frustration.

But as he glanced at the sleeping Shen Yan, an idea struck him.

Less than a minute later, Hu Chengyu received another photo.

Hu Chengyu's eyes widened in surprise, and he gripped his phone tightly, quickly realizing that Shen Lin was retaliating.

Shen Lin’s actions weren’t extreme, but it was something most brothers wouldn’t do.

He turned his body and kissed Shen Yan’s forehead.

He had seen Shu Qianfei do this when he was younger, and it had stayed with him ever since.

As he grew older and his relationship with Shen Yan deteriorated, he had forgotten about it.

As he pinched Shen Yan’s face earlier, the memory of this childhood regret resurfaced.

It fulfilled the desires of his younger self and also managed to annoy Hu Chengyu.

With a satisfied smile, Shen Lin drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, in a hotel in Zhu City, Hu Chengyu tidied up his laptop and lay in bed, looking at the photos.

After flipping through them a few times, he set the first edited photo, which only showed Shen Yan, as his lock screen.

Late at night, Hu Chengyu drifted into a dream where, in the final photo, the person kissing Shen Yan was now him.

In his dream, he was just as intense as in real life, never fully satisfied.

In the dream, his lips touched Shen Yan’s forehead, then slowly moved down, brushing past her nose and lips, before lingering on her delicate throat.

Unknowingly, in reality, he was swallowing rapidly.

...

Hu Chengyu was seeing Lu Zhao off in the hotel corridor. Noticing Hu Chengyu’s dark expression, Lu Zhao sensed that his brother was in a foul mood.

Initially planning to dawdle a bit longer, Lu Zhao quickly grabbed his suitcase and left upon seeing this.

Xie Shiyu only realized that Hu Chengyu had stayed at the hotel after he had sat in the taxi.

He subtly glanced at Lu Zhao before casually asking the coach, "Coach, Hu Chengyu hasn’t come down yet."

"Hu Chengyu has some private matters to attend to and will head back in the afternoon," the coach replied.

The other coach added, "He’s probably handling Hu family business. After all, he’s the sole heir."

Lu Zhao put on his eye mask, feeling a bit smug inside. He guessed that Xie Shiyu was asking about his brother's whereabouts, probably thinking that Hu Chengyu had gone to meet Yan Yan.

As it turned out, his guess was correct.

As he put on his eye mask, he missed the fleeting shadow of malice that flashed across Xie Shiyu's face when the coach mentioned the "sole heir."

Hu Chengyu got a call from Shu Qianfei while checking out.

"Chengyu, I heard you’re in Zhu City?"

Shen Lin mentioned it while chatting about their trip to Dinosaur Park.

Shen Lin and Yan Yan were having a blast when Hu Chengyu suddenly showed up and started calling nonstop, like his life depended on it.

Shen Lin just muttered a small complaint, but Shu Qianfei was clearly reading more into the situation.

Back then, Yan Yan was always chasing after Hu Chengyu, but now it’s the other way around.

Men, huh.

Still, Shu Qianfei had known Hu Chengyu since he was a kid and generally trusted him.