Chapter 39: More Than One Person Is Watching Him

Chapter 39: He Wasn't the Only One Watching Him

Once he'd calmed down, Chi Xingcun started wondering how Fu Chenzhan knew he and Qin Liyi had been in the car.

It hit him—Fu Chenzhan must have had someone tailing him.

Fu Chenzhan had pulled this stunt in his past life too, and Chi Xingcun had caught him twice. The last time he'd been caught was on a random day, after he'd escaped from the warehouse where his parents had held him, while he was wandering the streets.

Back then, he'd been drowning in so many emotions—grief, despair—and he'd naturally assumed Fu Chenzhan had him watched to make sure he got out of town.

He'd lost it completely back then, falling apart so badly he wished he could just die right there! Why did he have to do him like that?!

He screamed at the detective to go back and tell Fu Chenzhan he'd leave!

After kicking the detective out, with nowhere else to go, he'd gone back to his birth parents' place.

The thought that Fu Chenzhan might be pulling the same crap in this life made Chi Xingcun see red!

Fu Chenzhan was a straight-up lunatic!

Why had he always turned a blind eye to all this messed-up behavior back then?

If he'd faced it sooner, he would've gotten away from Fu Chenzhan a lot earlier.

......

That Saturday, after breakfast, Qin Liyi started prepping lunch. Chi Xingcun said from beside him, "Just make enough for yourself. I'm heading out at noon."

Qin Liyi whipped around: "Where are you going?"

It was Thursday, and he had no classes that afternoon. He was planning to look for a part-time gig near the school entrance.

"I'll be back before dark." He dodged the question.

The cozy happiness of the past few days shattered in an instant. Qin Liyi's brow furrowed.

Why was he hiding stuff from him again?

This really bothered him.

He didn't realize it himself, but after all this time together, his possessiveness over Chi Xingcun was getting more intense by the day.

At night, he'd even crouch outside the glass bathroom door like a creep while Chi Xingcun showered.

He wanted to get in there and shower with him.

But he'd never managed to pull it off.

"Fine." Qin Liyi figured it wasn't good to keep pushing.

For the past few days, Chi Xingcun had stuck to the meal plan and downed his Chinese herbal medicine with every meal, even though it was nasty bitter.

An hour later, as Chi Xingcun was getting ready to head out, Qin Liyi helped him pack his bag and tucked the prepared medicine inside.

He also casually managed to pry out of him that the young master was meeting the class monitor at noon.

At the door, he flagged down a cab for Chi Xingcun. After watching him get in, his gaze slid over to another car parked across the street. The guy inside nodded at him, rolled up the window, and pulled out to follow Chi Xingcun's cab.

This was the detective he'd planted on Chi Xingcun. He'd started having someone keep tabs on him the moment he suspected the young master was being bullied. Every time Chi Xingcun left the house, someone was on him. When Qin Liyi wasn't in class with him, the detective would slip into the school and sit in on classes, reporting back everything that happened around Chi Xingcun, one detail at a time.

"You on your way?"

The class monitor texted him.

"Just got in the car. Be there in twenty." He texted back.

"Cool. I'll get there about five minutes early. I'll wait for you at the bubble tea place on the first floor." The class monitor added.

"Okay."

Even though he was really going out to look for a part-time job, Chi Xingcun had never hung out with classmates outside of school before. He was actually a little excited.

He looked up, and his eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, catching a car driving behind him.

His first instinct was that Fu Chenzhan might have someone tailing him.

But not every car behind him had to be a tail.

As he got out of the car, Chi Xingcun looked up and spotted Xue Tianye not far off.

A smile lit up his pale, delicate face as he waved at Xue Tianye.

Xue Tianye walked toward him with a soft smile, holding two cups of milk tea.

Chi Xingcun was dressed mostly in white today, with a cream crossbody bag. He looked every bit the good boy.

They met up, and Xue Tianye passed him a cup of milk tea.

Chi Xingcun blinked, then took the cup and said, "How much do I owe you? I'll Venmo you."

Xue Tianye smiled: "It's just a cup of tea. Don't worry about it."

Chi Xingcun tried to say more, but Xue Tianye cut him off: "Come on, let's grab lunch first. I'm starving."

Behind them, the detective pulled out his phone and video-called Qin Liyi, aiming the camera at Chi Xingcun and Xue Tianye.

The two of them went to a big national chain known for its crab hotpot—popular and well-reviewed.

Once they sat down, they scanned the QR code on the table to order.

Xue Tianye looked over at him: "You like crab? Any allergies?"

The school never served crab, and he'd never seen Chi Xingcun eat it.

"I can eat it. No allergies."

"Good." Xue Tianye smiled, his features clean-cut and gentle, clearly in a good mood. "There's also chicken feet and chicken wings. You want some?"

Chi Xingcun said, "I'm easy. You pick."

Chi Xingcun had never been to a place like this. These chains mostly served frozen meat and pre-made food. His parents never let him eat that stuff, and in his past life, he'd looked down on it too.

Back in his past life, he'd only ever eaten hotpot like this from the family chef or at fancy handmade restaurants.

Later, after hitting rock bottom, he never got the chance to go to places like this either.

After ordering, Xue Tianye set down his phone and looked at Chi Xingcun warmly: "This is the first time I've gotten to eat with you outside of school."

There was a strange note of satisfaction in his voice when he said it.

Chi Xingcun smiled back, shy and a little flustered.

So cute, so pretty.

Xue Tianye recalled how Chi Xingcun used to be so flashy and full of energy, and compared to his now more reserved demeanor, both looks suited him.

A good-looking guy turns heads no matter what he does.

From the moment they met to walking into the mall, plenty of people were staring at Chi Xingcun beside him.

He understood completely, because the first time he saw Chi Xingcun, he even thought the guy was glowing.

"I didn't tell any of my classmates that I'm out with you for lunch. I'm scared they'd all want to come if they found out."

Chi Xingcun had gotten a lot more popular at school lately. Outside of class, he was always surrounded by people talking.

He'd also added a few hundred new friends on WeChat in a short time—not only from his own class, but from other classes and even other majors.

"That probably wouldn't happen..." Chi Xingcun didn't know how to respond.

Xue Tianye smiled and finally got down to business: "By the way, why do you suddenly want to find a part-time job?"

"I want to make some spending money, and hopefully save a little." Chi Xingcun said seriously.

Xue Tianye figured he was joking: "Just wanna try it out?"

"...Sort of."

"Alright, we'll look around together in a bit."

Xue Tianye didn't actually intend to find a part-time job off campus. Recently, his classmates had been considering part-time work for the winter break, and when Chi Xingcun messaged him saying he wanted to find one too, he casually mentioned he was also looking—but really, he just wanted to accompany Chi Xingcun. So the two agreed to meet up today to search together.

Ten minutes later, the pot arrived at the table, and it smelled incredible.

It looked and smelled delicious, enough to make anyone's mouth water.

"Dig in."