Chapter 15: Sleeping Together—Sleeping Together Like This, It’s Like Returning to Childhood…
The person who had insulted Meng Shen and then called out Yu Xi’s name in surprise was also a young man in his early twenties, wearing a flamboyant suit with the collar open to his chest.
He stared wide-eyed at Yu Xi. “You are Yu Xi, right?”
Yu Xi tried hard to remember but couldn’t recall which person from his childhood this was. “Hello, may I ask who you are…”
Before he could finish his question, his vision was completely blocked by Meng Shen’s body.
“Don’t pay attention to him.”
Yu Xi noticed that Meng Shen’s expression was very unsightly. He didn’t ask further, nodding and intending to call Pei Wang to leave together. Their path was quickly blocked by that person again.
“The greeting isn’t even finished and you’re taking him away. How could the Meng family raise such an uneducated thing as you?” The young man showed total disdain for Meng Shen. After speaking, he gave a smile to the frowning Yu Xi. “I heard earlier that someone new had moved into the Pei house; I guessed it was you who had returned. What? Have you forgotten me completely? Stupid… Fish.”
Yu Xi’s expression changed as the nickname triggered his memory.
“Stupid Fish”—the only person who would call him that was that man.
The second young master of the Meng family, Meng Liang, who was also Meng Shen’s half-brother.
Despite sharing half of their bloodline, Meng Liang made things difficult for Meng Shen everywhere, isolating him along with the other Meng children and making him live like he was walking on thin ice in the Meng family.
Meng Shen’s terrible situation in the Meng family was half thanks to Meng Liang.
When Yu Xi appeared by Meng Shen’s side, he naturally caught Meng Liang’s attention.
He tried to pull Yu Xi into his own camp, wanting him to join in isolating Meng Shen. To that end, he sent many gifts to please him, wanting to persuade him.
At that time, Yu Xi didn’t understand why this person hated Meng Shen so much, thinking there was some misunderstanding. He held the straw-woven grasshopper he had made as a peace offering and said, “A-Shen is very, very good. Can you please stop hating him? I’ll take you to apologize to A-Shen. Once you’ve reconciled, everyone can be friends, okay?”
Meng Liang was furious. He pulled the straw-woven grasshopper he had already pocketed out and stomped it under his foot. “How could you even bring yourself to give me such a thing! And who wants to be friends with you two?! Meng Shen is stupid, and you’re the same! You can’t understand human words at all. I think you should just be called ‘Stupid Fish’ from now on!”
Little Yu Xi was terrified, standing frozen on the spot without making a sound, with only tears continuously falling.
Gu Chuanzhou had seen that scene. His expression was very calm as he walked over, yet he did something that shocked everyone—he grabbed Meng Liang’s collar and smashed his fists into Meng Liang’s face one after another.
Things became very serious that day.
One of Meng Liang’s incisors was knocked out, and Gu Chuanzhou was grounded by his parents for half a month.
Before this event occurred, the relationship between Yu Xi and Gu Chuanzhou couldn’t even be called that of friends. He hadn’t dared to speak to Gu Chuanzhou then, only occasionally looking curiously at what Gu Chuanzhou was doing while playing with his friends.
He hadn’t dared to imagine establishing a closer relationship with such an excellent person, and he never expected the other party would stand up for him. Even the other children were stunned; they had never seen Gu Chuanzhou lose control like that—even the adults could barely pull him away.
After this happened, Yu Xi would take small items and squeeze through the back garden fence of the Gu house every day to send them to Gu Chuanzhou, who was confined in the study.
On the first day, Gu Chuanzhou’s attitude was still distant: “You don’t need to feel like you owe me anything. I hit him for my own reasons; it had nothing to do with you.”
Little Yu Xi didn’t understand, only asking, “Does Chuanzhou Ge like the candy I sent?”
Gu Chuanzhou was silent for a while before nodding.
Yu Xi smiled and hopped twice outside the study window. “Then I’ll bring you something delicious tomorrow too.”
In reality, how this matter had happened was only known to the three of them, including Meng Shen.
Later, he stayed far away from Meng Liang. For some reason, Meng Liang still always watched him. Fortunately, he didn’t do anything bad again and didn’t excessively bully Meng Shen.
He hadn’t expected this person to still be so annoying as an adult.
Yu Xi’s first reaction upon recognizing him was to stand in front of Meng Shen, holding Meng Shen’s hand. “Apologies, I don’t know you. We’re leaving now.”
Meng Liang was stunned, saying in disbelief, “No, how could you not know me? I’m Meng Liang!”
He wanted to give chase but was blocked by Pei Wang.
“Didn’t you hear? He said he doesn’t know you, yet you keep blocking the way. I really don’t understand how the Meng family could have such an uneducated character as you.” Pei Wang returned the words Meng Liang had said earlier. He ignored Meng Liang’s face, which had turned from black to red, and turned to leave.
Sheng Yunshu and the others walked over, asking in a low voice, “Is everything alright?”
Yu Xi shook his head. “It’s fine.”
He was more worried about Meng Shen. After pulling him to sit down, he asked quietly, “Did he bully you in the Meng family?”
Meng Shen’s spine was arched in a stiff curve, his bulging muscles stretching his somewhat tight shirt especially tight. His chest, in particular, was rising and falling with such large breaths that it seemed it would burst at any moment.
“A-Shen?” Yu Xi thought it was the previous incident that had made Meng Shen’s emotions unstable. He held Meng Shen’s hand with both of his. “Are you uncomfortable?”
He didn’t know that at this moment, Meng Shen couldn’t hear what he was saying clearly; his attention was entirely on the hand holding his, the opening and closing of the lips, and the eyes full of concern.
Yu Xi asked again anxiously.
Meng Shen snapped back to his senses, immediately shifting his gaze. “I… I’m fine… I’m not uncomfortable, and no one bullied me.”
“Really? Don’t lie to me.” Yu Xi had wanted to ask about this for a long time, staring unblinkingly at Meng Shen’s face.
Under his gaze, Meng Shen’s face turned visibly red, even his neck and ears becoming a solid color. His dark pupils darted left and right, his head burying lower and lower. Finally, he simply used his hand to cover his face, saying in an almost pleading tone, “Xiao Xi… stop looking at me.”
In Yu Xi’s eyes, this evasive reaction became a sign of guilt.
He frowned with extreme seriousness, pressing, “Why won’t you let me look? Are you afraid I’ll see that you’re lying?”
“N-no.” Meng Shen swallowed. “I’ve had a very good life these years, and I can earn a lot of money myself. I don’t need to look at the Meng family’s face to survive, so you really don’t need to worry… I get nervous when you stare at me.”
Yu Xi was stunned, and then his fingers also felt Meng Shen’s palms sweating and trembling a bit. He quickly let go. “I’m sorry. I forgot; you don’t like others touching you.”
Meng Shen shook his head to say it was okay.
Yu Xi was a bit guilty and a bit disappointed.
He had forgotten in his haste that Meng Shen had this issue since childhood—shy, socially anxious, disliking contact, getting upset even if someone accidentally bumped into him.
He had spent a long time as a child to make Meng Shen lower his guard and become one of the few people Meng Shen accepted. Occasionally, Meng Shen would even take the initiative to sit close to him.
So many years had passed; it was normal that Meng Shen couldn’t adapt to his touch all at once.
“Gu Chuanzhou is here.” Pei Wang’s reminder made Yu Xi pull back his thoughts and immediately look over.
Gu Chuanzhou’s entrance caused a small commotion. His identity was enough to make everyone at the banquet eager to approach him, yet his excessively cold and powerful aura made them not dare to get close.
He scanned the room and quickly discovered Yu Xi’s figure in the corner of the banquet hall. The frost in his eyes instantly melted, and he strode over in his red-soled leather shoes.
“Xixi.” His gentle call made the people nearby hold their breath in shock.
The crowd followed his gaze, seeing the youth on the sofa who was as beautiful as jade, and were then enlightened.
To be so outstanding, it was no wonder the always unapproachable and cold Gu family heir was like this.
Sheng Yunzhuan’s voice was slightly sharp at this moment: “Gu Chuanzhou, why are you dressed like this?”
Gu Chuanzhou sat naturally in the seat Pei Wang had vacated, asking casually, “Is there a problem?”
Sheng Yunzhuan looked him up and down, not holding back: “You looked at Xiao Xi’s formal wear in advance and deliberately chose this outfit, didn’t you?”
Yu Xi followed Sheng Yunzhuan’s words and carefully examined Gu Chuanzhou’s clothes.
It was a black and white suit. The unique points were the French long pointed collar of the shirt, the vintage-patterned tie with a dark green base, and the green gemstone brooch on the lapel of the suit jacket.
These three features coincidentally matched Yu Xi’s.
Gu Chuanzhou didn’t respond to Sheng Yunzhuan, only turning to ask Yu Xi, “Does Xixi think this outfit today suits me?”
Yu Xi nodded. “It looks good.”
On the first day of their reunion, Gu Chuanzhou had worn a suit to ring the Pei house doorbell. At that time, Yu Xi had felt that Gu Chuanzhou was very suited to wearing suits.
Broad-shouldered and long-legged, with a compelling aura and an indescribable cold nobility—it wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.
“I’m glad Xixi is satisfied.” The corner of Gu Chuanzhou’s mouth turned up, his gaze inconspicuously sweeping over Meng Shen, who sat on the other side of Yu Xi.
Meng Shen looked back, meeting his gaze without a hint of weakness, his dark eyes deep and unfathomable.
Yu Xi was observing the Eldredge knot of the tie and didn’t notice the undercurrent in their eye contact.
…
7:00 PM.
It was the official starting time for the victory banquet, but the protagonist didn’t appear on time.
Yu Xi saw Zhang Xingkuo’s mother. She apologized on stage, saying her son’s flight was delayed and he would arrive a bit late, so the opening had to be postponed.
Sheng Yunzhuan whispered to Yu Xi: “Zhang Xingkuo’s relationship with his father hasn’t been good these years. Look, he didn’t even show up for the victory banquet.”
“Did something happen?” Yu Xi asked.
Sheng Yunzhuan thought for a while. “This… it’s a bit complicated. You should ask him yourself. He’ll tell you everything if you ask.”
Yu Xi couldn’t help but probe: “Did he ever mention me?”
“Of course he did, but as time went on, he mentioned you less and less.” Sheng Yunzhuan sighed.
Yu Xi’s heart tightened instantly.
Before he could overthink, Sheng Yunshu explained for her sister: “It’s because the more he mentioned you, the easier it was to remember you, which made him feel bad, so he tried hard not to think about you.”
“…I see.”
Yu Xi’s mood went up and down. He felt relieved yet couldn’t help but be nervous. During the time that followed, he checked the door occasionally. Sometimes he was briefly distracted by his friends, but his mind remained elsewhere.
He waited in anticipation as it grew later and later.
The victory banquet had to begin.
Taking the opportunity to deliver a gift, he spoke a few words with Zhang Xingkuo’s mother.
“I’m so happy to see you here. I’ve always remembered how our Xingkuo loved playing with you most when you were little. After you left that winter vacation, he was depressed for a long time at home.”
Mrs. Zhang held Yu Xi’s hand, her smile as kind as ever.
“He originally had some business with his team and didn’t want to come back so soon. I said you were coming, so he checked for flights overnight. He was supposed to land this afternoon, but unfortunately, the plane malfunctioned and kept being delayed. I don’t know if he’ll even make it back.”
Sheng Yunzhuan said, “If he doesn’t make it tonight, he’ll be back tomorrow anyway. There’s no rush.”
Mrs. Zhang nodded. “True, they’ll meet anyway.”
Despite this, Yu Xi felt empty inside.
The banquet ended without the protagonist showing up. Yu Xi took the car back to the Pei house with Pei Wang.
Before sleeping, he carefully placed the green gemstone brooch Gu Chuanzhou had lent him in the iron box with the small stone. He replied to a few “goodnight” messages from his friends as usual, told his mother about what had happened today, and lay in bed to sleep.
Perhaps because too many things had happened today and he had been constantly thinking about whether Zhang Xingkuo had returned, he didn’t fall asleep quickly. After tossing for half an hour, sleepiness finally arrived, and he slowly closed his eyes.
He didn’t know how long he had been asleep.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and a huge clap of thunder along with urgent knocking on the door woke him up in the middle of the night.
Yu Xi quickly opened the door. “Auntie Pei, did something happen?”
Pei Lexin didn’t say much, telling him to put on a shirt and come downstairs.
Yu Xi had a premonition, his heart beating faster.
Sure enough, a man who was soaked through and looked vaguely familiar was standing in the living room on the first floor.
Before he could say a single word, the other person rushed over and lifted him up, his feet leaving the ground.
The young man’s body temperature was as hot as fire, and his words were equally passionate: “Xiao Xi, I’ve finally seen you.”
Translator’s Note:
- The Brooch: 19 million yuan is roughly $2.7 million USD (depending on rate, damn, so expensive). Gu Chuanzhou is basically letting Yu Xi wear a small mansion around his neck.
- Stupid Fish (笨魚 – Bèn Yú): In Chinese, this is a play on Yu Xi’s name. Yú (瑜) sounds exactly like Yú (魚 – fish). It’s a classic “mean childhood nickname.”
- Zhang Xingkuo’s Entrance: He’s the “Wolf” archetype. Notice how he just picks Yu Xi up? No boundaries, just pure energy.
- The “Ping’an Kou” (平安扣): This is a traditional Chinese jade ornament shaped like a button, meaning “peace and safety.” For Xingkuo to still wear it after 12 years… he’s definitely dedicated.
Enjoy reading!
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