Chapter 27

Chapter 27

In the morning, Lu Linhua came as usual to tidy up Rong Yuan's room and collect his laundry, but noticed that a pair of underwear was missing today.

Rong Yuan had a habit of changing his underwear every day. He would put the used ones into the laundry basket in the morning, along with his pajamas or loungewear from the night before.

Today, only the pajamas were in the basket, but no underwear.

When collecting laundry, Lu Linhua would always shake out the clothes to make sure nothing was stuck in them. She shook them several times and even checked nearby spots where they might have been placed, but found nothing.

He didn't change? That shouldn't be the case, but there was nothing in the trash bin either.

This young master was acting a bit off today. Why wasn't he going to have breakfast with the master?

Seeing that Rong Yuan was still sitting in his room at the time he usually left for breakfast, Lu Linhua asked with concern, "Young Master Rong, what's wrong? Aren't you going to have breakfast?"

Rong Yuan had already been called once by the butler and had said he wouldn't go out for breakfast today. Now asked again, he repeated, "I'm not having breakfast today."

Since Lu Linhua had started taking care of Rong Yuan, she had never seen him skip breakfast. She found it strange. "Are you feeling unwell? Should I ask the master to come check on you?"

Rong Yuan quickly said, "No, no need. I'm not, not feeling bad. I'm just... just not very hungry yet. Go ahead, Aunt Lu, do what you need to do."

Aunt Lu smiled and said okay, but didn't pry into why he hadn't changed his underwear that morning.

She took the laundry out, and Rong Yuan covered his growling stomach.

He was used to eating breakfast every day, so he was hungry from missing it. But the thought of facing Gu Shenhan made him feel so... embarrassed!

He had been kissed by his husband until his legs went weak, and he almost face-planted when he got out of the car. And at night, he'd had an accident in his underwear while sleeping. He was too embarrassed to let Aunt Lu see, so he had secretly washed it himself, just this morning.

Rong Yuan opened the door and peeked outside. Good, Aunt Lu was gone. He fished out the underwear he had hand-washed but hadn't dared to hang to dry, removing it from the plastic bag it was wrapped in. He decided to rinse it again in clean water and then hang it to dry.

He could just hang it on the balcony in his room. Aunt Lu wouldn't come in again after her morning cleaning. In this weather, it would be dry by afternoon.

Just as Rong Yuan took a hanger from the cabinet, someone knocked on the door. Startled, he quickly clutched the underwear and hanger to his chest. "Who is it?"

Lian Dong said, "Young Master Rong, the master said you can't skip breakfast, so we've brought it over on a cart. It's on the cart by the door."

Rong Yuan said, "Coming right away!"

He stuffed the underwear back into the plastic bag, threw the hanger aside, and opened the door to pull the cart in. But to his surprise, it wasn't Lian Dong outside. It was Gu Shenhan!

"H-husband? What are you doing here?"

"Why can't it be me?" Gu Shenhan pushed the cart in with one hand and kicked the door shut with his foot. The food on the cart was clearly for two.

"I'm not hungry yet. I'll eat by myself later."

"Tsk, still embarrassed?" Gu Shenhan lightly hooked Rong Yuan's chin. "You're too shy to even come out for a meal. I just touched your a—"

"Don't say it!" Rong Yuan panicked, pressing down on the cart to stop Gu Shenhan from moving. "Husband, please go out. You can eat alone today."

"Why?" Gu Shenhan quickly scanned the room. "Who was it just yesterday who said they weren't a little antique anymore? Is this still being shy? What's this?"

"Don't take it!" Rong Yuan snatched the bag frantically.

But Gu Shenhan had already seen it—a wet pair of underwear inside.

He seemed to vaguely understand what had happened, and felt a rush of blood. He laughed and cursed, "You little brat. No wonder you wouldn't come out this morning. Did you dream of me last night?"

Rong Yuan wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it right then and there. Since he couldn't shoo him away, he simply took the underwear back into the bathroom.

But Gu Shenhan followed him in, watching him rinse and wring it out, then reaching for a hanger. Gu Shenhan grabbed his hand and took the hanger away.

"Hey, I need to hang it up to dry."

"We'll just throw it in the dryer." Gu Shenhan led Rong Yuan to the utility room connected to the guest room. "This is a special machine just for underwear. Normally Aunt Lu and the others take them to wash together, so you probably haven't used it. Let me teach you."

With that, he put Rong Yuan's underwear inside and closed the door of the compact washer.

The circular door was very shiny, like dark blue glass, reflecting both their faces. Rong Yuan felt the mirror had some kind of magic, making his cheeks burn.

Gu Shenhan took Rong Yuan's hand and pressed the drying option. "Like this. We'll come get it after breakfast."

Rong Yuan felt as if even his fingertips were about to catch fire. He turned his head away, not daring to meet Gu Shenhan's eyes in the glass, his heart thumping like crazy.

Gu Shenhan didn't say anything, just led him to the sink and held him from behind, washing his hands with him.

By the time they sat down, Rong Yuan's face was so hot you could fry an egg on it.

Gu Shenhan adored him like this—the shyer he got, the more he wanted to tease him. So he picked up a shrimp dumpling and brought it to Rong Yuan's lips. "Eat up. We'll meet the wedding planner together later."

"But it's only Tuesday, husband. Don't you have to work?"

"My annual leave starts today. We'll see the wedding planner during the day and try to finalize the important things. But before that, you need to come with me for an antibody test."

Rong Yuan asked in confusion, "What's an antibody test?"

Gu Shenhan briefly explained what a vaccine was and what it did.

As Rong Yuan listened, the color drained from his face.

Gu Shenhan noticed something was wrong. "What's the matter? Are you afraid of blood draws?"

Rong Yuan slowly shook his head.

If they tested his antibodies, they would know whether he had any. And then... wouldn't his identity be exposed?

Then Gu Shenhan would find out that he wasn't the original Rong Yuan, and they...

Rong Yuan twisted his hands anxiously. "Husband, can't we skip this test? I..."

Gu Shenhan said firmly, "We have to do it. You're going to be meeting more and more people. If you don't have antibodies, you'll need to get those vaccines, and this is for your health."

Rong Yuan's appetite vanished instantly, his eyes losing focus.

If the real Rong Yuan ever came back, he definitely wouldn't cling on. But since he hadn't, couldn't he be a little greedy?

He had thought about leaving before, and had even made preparations. But now, he wanted to stay.

Gu Shenhan said, "Is it because of the assessment you had before?"

Rong Yuan lowered his eyes, poking at the peanuts in his bowl. "I just don't want to do those things."

Gu Shenhan had initially wanted to be firm—after all, health was important and couldn't be ignored. But seeing how scared Rong Yuan was, he thought back to the psychiatric evaluation incident. He decided it might be better to let it go for now. He could find another excuse to draw blood in a few days, as long as he didn't leave any lasting psychological scars—that would be a real loss.

When Rong Yuan heard that he wouldn't have to have blood drawn, a hint of relief crept back onto his worried face. "Really no blood draw? Husband, don't you dare lie to me."

Gu Shenhan said, "Right, no blood draw. But we'll definitely have to draw blood for the premarital checkup later. A premarital checkup is a health examination before marriage."

Rong Yuan: "How long is 'later'?"

Gu Shenhan casually said, "About a month."

Rong Yuan thought to himself—the wedding preparations would definitely take more than a month. But if the premarital checkup was in a month, and if he really had to leave Gu Shenhan in a month...

Could he be selfish, just this once, and ask for a family first?