Chapter 11 Fine, Don’t Kiss Me Here

Chapter 11: Fine, Don't Kiss Me Here

The elevator rose steadily. Cheng Ye stood beside Shen Xu, feeling totally out of place. He kept scratching his nose, then lowering his head to adjust the hem and cuffs of his clothes—basically, nothing felt right.

He couldn't help sneaking glances at Shen Xu from the corner of his eye every now and then, his eyes darting back and forth like he was lost in thought.

With a soft chime, the elevator reached the designated floor. Warm golden light along with a subtle fragrance poured in.

A hotel attendant in uniform, flashing a professional smile, was already waiting outside. He bowed slightly and gestured "this way, please." "Gentlemen, please follow me."

Thick carpet lined the hallway, silencing their footsteps. Several paintings hung on the walls, and the warm lighting bathed everything in a soft, golden glow.

Cheng Ye's gaze swept over the lavish decorations, and he couldn't help clicking his tongue: *These people are loaded. A meal here probably costs more than a regular person's monthly paycheck? The people in this room are probably big shots—rich and powerful.* And here he was, a total fake from head to toe, about to mingle among them...

At that thought, he felt even more nervous, and his fingers unconsciously tightened around Shen Xu's arm.

Shen Xu seemed to notice his tension. Just as they were about to reach the door, he tilted his head slightly and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Just sit down and eat when we get inside. If I don't talk to you, you don't have to bother with them."

Then, as if to reassure him, he gently squeezed the back of Cheng Ye's neck.

However, this comfort did nothing to ease Cheng Ye's anxiety—instead, it made him even more uneasy and...

*If it weren't for these knockoffs, I could really follow Shen Xu's advice: go in, find a corner, eat in silence, and act like a quiet backdrop. But now, dressed in all these fakes, I can't play that cool.*

The attendant stopped in front of the door, knocked respectfully, and pushed it open slowly.

The scene inside came into view, and Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat, then he started grumbling to himself.

Contrary to the packed, fancy scene he'd pictured, the large, luxurious private room—big enough for a small ball—was sparsely occupied by only six or seven people. A big round table looked empty in comparison.

Before they entered, the people inside seemed to be chatting happily, the atmosphere warm and friendly.

Shen Xu walked in first. A well-dressed middle-aged woman immediately greeted him with a smile: "Xiao Xu is here! Come in!"

But before she could finish, her gaze shifted past Shen Xu and landed on Cheng Ye, who was following closely behind. Her smile froze, like a video glitching mid-scene.

Not only her, but the other men and women at the table also stopped their relaxed conversations simultaneously, their stares fixed on Cheng Ye with undisguised shock.

A suffocating silence filled the room.

The woman who had spoken first forced a stiff smile, her eyes darting between Shen Xu and Cheng Ye. Finally, with a tone of disbelief and cautious inquiry, she asked, "Xiao Xu, this... this is..."

Shen Xu, seemingly oblivious to the eerie silence and the focused stares, pulled the rigid Cheng Ye inside. "This is my husband. Auntie, didn't Uncle tell you?"

The "Uncle" in question was clearly the old man at the head of the table, whose face had already darkened.

At the word "husband," the woman called "Auntie" completely lost her smile. Her expression frozen, she turned stiffly to the old man at the head of the table, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something but didn't know where to start, her eyes full of panic.

But Shen Xu had already taken Cheng Ye by the hand and walked straight to the reserved seats at the table. He calmly pulled out a chair, gestured for Cheng Ye to sit, and then sat down himself.

He hadn't even warmed his seat before he began serving Cheng Ye food like no one else existed.

"Since this is a family dinner, what's wrong with bringing him?" Shen Xu asked, pausing in his serving as if he had just remembered something, and glanced around at the varied expressions of the others. "Whatever you were talking about, just go on. Don't mind us."

As he spoke, he kept adding food. Tender lobster meat, plump abalone, a small pot of simmered chicken soup... one by one, they landed on the small plate in front of Cheng Ye, quickly forming a "mountain."

But Shen Xu continued, as if determined to move every good dish on the table onto Cheng Ye's plate before stopping.

Except for him, no one at the table had even touched their chopsticks. Everyone stared blankly at Shen Xu's almost provocative actions.

Hearing the clatter of dishes and his own increasingly loud heartbeat, Cheng Ye felt his face burn. He felt like a monkey put on display under a spotlight, utterly uncomfortable.

So, taking advantage of a brief moment when Shen Xu reached out with his chopsticks again, Cheng Ye pinched Shen Xu's knee hard under the table and shot him a look: *Enough! Stop serving! Don't you see everyone is watching?*

Shen Xu paused, looked down at the "offending" hand on his leg, then looked up at Cheng Ye, asking as if he didn't understand: "Something wrong? Not your thing?" He scanned the dishes on the table, his voice not loud but clear enough for everyone to hear. "Well, come to think of it, there aren't many dishes I like either."

Then, totally ignoring everyone's even darker looks, he called the waiter standing at the door: "Waiter, bring the menu. I want to order a few more dishes."

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, Uncle at the head of the table finally lost his patience. He slammed his hand on the table.

The heavy solid wood table shook, and dishes clattered. Uncle's face was livid as he glared at Shen Xu, his voice trembling with suppressed rage: "Are you done yet?! Shen Xu! At a family dinner, what are you doing bringing an outsider? Do you have any manners at all? Do you even respect this family or me?"

*If I'm not mistaken, besides the Shens, the only 'outsider' here is me, a Cheng,* Cheng Ye silently added to himself. He even felt a bit grateful for this furious Uncle—what a timely excuse. He wished he could stand up right now, say, "Sorry to interrupt your family dinner, I'll be going," and immediately escape this suffocating place.

But with Shen Xu beside him, he absolutely didn't dare.

He knew if he dared to play along that way and walk away, Shen Xu would find ways to torment him later. Maybe even the thirty-four-yuan limit might drop to zero point five, and then he'd really be in trouble.

So Cheng Ye could only lower his head even more, pretending he hadn't heard anything, and focus on tackling the "mountain" on his plate.

"Still eating! No manners at all! Were you a starving ghost in a past life?!" Uncle, seeing that his anger still couldn't threaten Shen Xu in the slightest, and that Cheng Ye was eating as if nothing had happened, became even more furious, turning all his fury on Cheng Ye.

Hearing the old man call him a glutton, Cheng Ye felt a surge of anger. *Damn old man! Dragging me into this? Shen Xu told me to eat—what's it got to do with me? Can't mess with Shen Xu, so you take it out on me? Unreasonable!*

Cheng Ye cursed inwardly, a surge of defiance rising. He was already nervous and embarrassed, and now being bullied like a pushover—even a doormat has its limits. Besides, seeing Shen Xu's attitude, he clearly despised these so-called family members. Why should he just take it and smile?

So, as Uncle glared and everyone looked on with varied expressions, Cheng Ye didn't stop eating—he doubled down. He directly picked up his plate, shoveled rice into his mouth with his chopsticks, and puffed out his cheeks.

Everyone stared in shock as he polished off the plate in a flash.

Cheng Ye set down the clean plate, then leaned back, sinking lazily into the big chair. Finally, he looked up, meeting Uncle's almost flaming gaze, and said casually:

"I just don't like wasting food."

"......"

The room fell into an unprecedented, deathly awkward silence. Uncle's face was a sight—now red, now white, now green. He pointed at Cheng Ye, sputtering "You... you..." without being able to form a complete sentence.

At that moment, a fashionably dressed man sitting on the other side of Uncle quickly jumped in to smooth things over: "Hey, Third Uncle, take it easy. Who cares about outsider or not? Now that he's here, he's family, right?" He smiled at the others, trying to lighten the mood. "We all have different tastes. If he likes something else, we can just order more. A family meal—happiness is the most important thing."

"Yeah, yeah, family. Don't get upset," someone else chimed in, though their smile was strained.

The atmosphere thus eased slightly, but it was still very delicate. Shen Xu ignored the olive branch they offered, still looking aloof and indifferent.

The cousin seemed not to want to be brushed off, or perhaps he genuinely wanted to mend relations. His gaze fell on the black handbag Shen Xu had casually placed on the empty chair beside him. His eyes lit up, finding a new topic.

"Cousin," he said, leaning forward slightly, his face wearing a perfectly appropriate expression of envy and familiarity. "You like this brand's bags too? It's really nice. I had my eye on the same one last time I went to the store. The SA said they'd transfer it, but I've been waiting three months now, and the black one still hasn't shown up. You're awesome, cousin—you're already carrying it."

His intention was to flatter Shen Xu and build a closer relationship.

Shen Xu barely lifted his eyes to glance at him, his gaze cold as ice. Under the cousin's expectant gaze, Shen Xu directly reached over, picked up the bag, and said, "You like it? Then it's all yours."

As he spoke, he began pulling the odds and ends out of the bag, acting like he was going to stuff them into Cheng Ye's pocket.

The cousin's smile froze on his face, and he quickly waved his hands: "No, no, cousin, that's not what I meant! I was just mentioning it casually, how could I take your bag? That's not right!"

He was so anxious that sweat almost broke out on his forehead—his flattery seemed to have backfired.

However, before the cousin could fully refuse, Cheng Ye got anxious first and pressed down on Shen Xu's hand: "No!"

That thing was a fake—giving it away would be a disaster!

His voice cracked with urgency, standing out starkly in the quiet private room, and everyone's gazes converged on him again.

Cheng Ye's face instantly flushed hot, realizing he had overreacted, and he fumbled to explain, his mind racing for an excuse: "Th-this bag is mine, I've used it for a long time, it's already old, I'd be too embarrassed to give it to you... If you like it, let Shen Xu buy you a new one."

Anyway, it's not like it's my money.

"I forgot, this bag is Cheng Ye's. I'll have someone send you a new one later."

Shen Xu let Cheng Ye snatch back the bag like a hot potato, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He reached out and pinched Cheng Ye's face, stiff with tension:

"You really do think of everything."

The next second, before Cheng Ye could react at all, Shen Xu, still gripping his chin, turned his face toward him, then leaned in and kissed him.

It wasn't a perfunctory, polite peck. It was a solid kiss, one that clearly staked a claim and declared ownership, landing squarely on Cheng Ye's lips.

It was like when Pangu split the sky and earth—the axe came down right on Cheng Ye's head. He felt his brain completely crash, leaving only a blank void.

All the blood rushed to his head, his entire body froze, his eyes were wide open, and right before him were Shen Xu's slightly trembling eyelashes and deep brow ridge.

He could feel the warmth of Shen Xu's lips and clearly hear the frantic drumming of his own heart, as well as... the dead silence around them and the stunned, speechless stares.

K-kissed?

In front of the whole family?

Old and young, men and women—just watching the two of them... smooching?

Cheng Ye was so embarrassed he could cry. He felt Shen Xu was being way too extra today; he couldn't figure it out at all what he was trying to do. If digging a hole with his toes could have actual physical power, he would have already dug a hole through the earth by now.

He knew he shouldn't have come. This was more awkward than any embarrassing scenario he had imagined. If the fake bag had been discovered, it would have been just a moment of shame, a brief awkward moment.

But now it was different. The sustained cringe was making Cheng Ye truly unable to sit still. He wanted to get out of there even more than anyone else at the table.

Author's note:

10,000 words over these two days, boss 😀