Chapter 40: Wow, You Two Move Fast
Knock, knock—a knock on the door.
“Wow, you two move fast,” came Guo Duoyu’s annoying, teasing voice.
Smack! Clearly, Guo Duoyu paid the price for his loose lips… likely receiving a slap from Uncle Guo.
Uncle Guo scolded him almost at the same second: “Are you annoying or what? Why disturb them? Go back to your own room!”
Guo Duoyu clicked his tongue in argument: “No… they didn’t even close the door, surely meaning they aren’t afraid of noise.”
Liang Bo and Shou Jiaxun were both asleep, but not deeply. When Guo Duoyu knocked, both opened their eyes simultaneously, but neither moved immediately… presumably, both felt a bit awkward inside.
Only after a moment did one casually turn over backwards, while the other calmly rolled half a turn forward.
“Wow! You guys actually gave birth to a pillow,” Guo Duoyu said with a tone of surprise but a very quiet voice, clearly being a nuisance.
Shou Jiaxun sat up, pursing his lips and glaring as he beckoned, “Guo Duoyu, come here… you come here.”
Guo Duoyu grinned and backed away. “It’s late, I’m going back to wash and sleep. You guys continue… continue, don’t mind me.”
Shou Jiaxun got out of bed barefoot, walking around the foot of the bed toward the door. His initial movements were slow, but as he rounded past Liang Bo, he suddenly grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and rushed to the door in a single stride. “You still have the face to come back!”
The pillow President Shou grabbed wasn’t a light goose-down or fiber pillow, but a cylindrical neck pillow slightly thicker than an arm, about two feet long, filled with heavy grain husks. It made a thud when it hit someone.
Liang Bo and Uncle Guo both shrank their necks in unison.
Guo Duoyu raised his arms to block, retreat, and beg for mercy all at once. “Hey, speak nicely if you have something to say!”
“Speak nicely your grandpa!” President Shou questioned furiously. “Ingrate! Heartless! Giving birth to a char siu (BBQ pork) would be better than giving birth to you; raising a dog would be better than raising you!”
“I really didn’t acknowledge him!” Guo Duoyu could run but didn’t, seemingly intending to let Shou Jiaxun vent his anger. He just held his head, turned his back to take the beating, and shouted an explanation: “But I couldn’t refuse the money he gave!”
Shou Jiaxun stopped his hand and scolded, “How much did he give you?”
Guo Duoyu reached back and held up two fingers. “Told you guys before… two plane tickets.”
Shou Jiaxun rolled his eyes dramatically. “A round trip and not a hair left! He paid for you to make a trip for nothing, you idiot.”
“Not for nothing!” Guo Duoyu hunched his shoulders, walked two steps away, then turned back. “Just in time to come back for the class reunion, and celebrate my dad’s birthday.”
Shou Jiaxun tucked the pillow under his arm, touching his chin as he looked back at Uncle Guo. “Uncle, your birthday is next week… I forgot.”
Uncle Guo raised his eyebrows and smiled mockingly. “Forty-one, another year older.”
President Shou smiled sheepishly and pointed at Guo Duoyu. “This kid is alright… quite alright, huh?”
Uncle Guo nodded in agreement. “Quite alright. If he didn’t mention it, I would have forgotten myself.”
Shou Jiaxun tossed the neck pillow back onto the big bed with a wave of his hand, smoothing his bangs back. “But two plane tickets aren’t much money. We don’t need to take advantage of this petty gain. Let this be the last time.”
Guo Duoyu stood three steps away, leaning against the wall, grinning noncommittally, and brought up another matter: “You’re coming to the class reunion tomorrow night too, right?”
President Shou was confused and asked back, “What class reunion?”
“Of course it’s our ‘Li Mai’ Class of 2016 reunion,” Guo Duoyu said with a mocking expression, seeming to look forward to it.
Shou Jiaxun frowned and waved his hand. “I’m quite busy, forget it.”
Liang Bo had gotten up when Shou Jiaxun did, but immediately felt dazed and trance-like because of waking and sleeping repeatedly today. So while others chatted at the door, he lay back down at the head of the bed.
But checking the time on his phone after lying back, he discovered it was nearly twelve o’clock at night, and hurriedly sat up again.
Assistant Liang sat, lay down, and sat up again, looking like he was doing sit-ups. Finally, he got up and moved to the door of Shou Jiaxun’s bedroom to say goodbye. “Boss… if there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”
“I’ll drive you,” Shou Jiaxun said.
At the same time, Uncle Guo raised his hand and pointed to the outer living room. “Are you two hungry? Should I heat up the leftovers Duoyu and I packed?”
Assistant Liang’s stomach gave a timely growl, and Little President Shou touched his belly too. It would be strange if they weren’t hungry.
Although they were leftovers, they were packed quite neatly. Uncle Guo zapped them in the microwave, and the aroma of meat and vegetables immediately made their index fingers twitch (appetite surge).
His kitchen and dining room were connected, separated only by a glass door. Shou Jiaxun sat at the dining table, his eyes following Uncle Guo bustling in the kitchen as he asked, “Uncle, how did you know I would go into heat today?”
Uncle Guo spoke the truth: “Of course I didn’t know! If I knew, I definitely would have stayed home to keep you company.”
Shou Jiaxun sighed with an embarrassed smile. “You bought the medicine too timely. I thought you could predict the future.”
“Mainly because it’s been too long for you. Even if it didn’t flare up today, it would have been soon.”
As Uncle Guo spoke, he set the heated dishes on the table for them and scrutinized them briefly. “Oh my, no staple food. I’ll boil a bundle of noodles for you!”
“There’s bread in the fridge.” Guo Duoyu had rushed into his room for a shower and now strolled out toweling his wet head.
Then Liang Bo saw Uncle Guo pull a carry bag with the Emirates Airlines logo out of the fridge with a look of disgust. “Guo Duoyu, can you stop bringing airplane food home?”
“It’s actually quite tasty,” Guo Duoyu defended with a sheepish smile. “If you guys despise it, keep it for me. I’ll have it for breakfast tomorrow.”
Shou Jiaxun immediately chimed in, “Don’t despise it. It’s a piece of your filial piety, after all.” At the same time, he reached out to ask Uncle Guo for the bread.
“Boring, childish,” Guo Duoyu complained softly, sitting down next to Liang Bo, wanting to vent a couple of sentences to him. “Bro, let me tell you…”
“Don’t, don’t, the generations are messed up.” Liang Bo looked embarrassed, putting down his chopsticks and waving his hand with a sheepish smile.
Guo Duoyu was dumbfounded, eyes staring wide. He tilted his head to look at Shou Jiaxun, then turned back to stare at Liang Bo. “No… are you two for real? Did you guys have that intention four years ago? …Isn’t this progress a bit too fast!”
Shou Jiaxun waved his hand to slap the back of his head, scolding with a frown, “None of your business.”
“No, no, it’s very much my business,” Guo Duoyu shook his head like a rattle-drum. “I think he’s quite good, especially good! Taller than me, whiter than me, younger than my dad, and not an Alpha. He suits you perfectly.”
Shou Jiaxun took a deep breath, swallowed the food in his mouth, and put down his chopsticks.
The previously bantering atmosphere suddenly turned a bit sour.
Liang Bo didn’t understand why. He looked up and scanned the three people before him. Uncle Guo was glaring angrily at his son. “If you don’t know how to talk, don’t talk.”
Guo Duoyu was playing dumb. “What did I say? Didn’t you tell me at the restaurant just now that Liang Bo is especially good, and how suitable he is for Little President Shou, and you wanted to set them up… No, what did I do wrong? I didn’t say anything!”
Shou Jiaxun covered his lips and coughed dryly with a blank expression, then turned to look at the bewildered Liang Bo. “Full? I’ll drive you home.”
The dazed Assistant Liang opened his mouth, intending to say his home was super close and didn’t need a ride; but upon meeting Shou Jiaxun’s eyes, he suddenly realized that Shou Jiaxun simply wanted to get out of the house right now.
So he changed his words at the last moment: “Okay.”
Shou Jiaxun pulled a tissue to wipe his mouth. “Mmhmm, I’ll go change clothes.” Saying this, he got up and went back to his room.
Uncle Guo was still glaring at Guo Duoyu. He must have been truly angry; even his lip color had suddenly darkened.
Guo Duoyu rested his hands on the table, changing to a meaningful expression, and spoke in a preaching tone: “Dad, can’t you see it yet? He relies on you too much emotionally. You single-handedly cover his needs for family, friendship, and home.
He lives in our house, never needing friends, relatives, or a lover… I think he likes kids quite a bit, but…”
Guo Duoyu pointed at himself here. “…This isn’t right.”
Then he turned to look at Liang Bo. “Bro, the opportunity has been given to you. He must be very fragile tonight. You figure it out.”
Liang Bo looked incredulous. “Aren’t you being a bit hasty? I… we’ve only known each other for a few hours, and you trust me this much?”
Guo Duoyu pursed his lips mockingly, his eyes certain, and gestured a large, square shape with his hands. “That pillow…”
He had just started speaking when Shou Jiaxun’s door opened, and everyone shut up in tacit understanding.
Shou Jiaxun came out wearing a casual suit, properly dressed inside and out. It looked like he could go straight to work, definitely not the look of someone stepping out for just a few minutes.
Car keys in his left hand, mobile phone in his right, he shot a glance at Liang Bo as he passed the living room: “Let’s go.”
Liang Bo hurriedly got up and walked to the entryway with him.
After exiting the front door, Shou Jiaxun didn’t press the elevator button immediately, probably subconsciously waiting for Uncle Guo to chase after him.
Liang Bo had already walked two or three steps, but seeing this, he could only turn back and suggest hesitantly, “Um… shall we go down first?”
Shou Jiaxun was actually in a very bad mood, but he wasn’t someone with a particularly huge temper. Once the initial anger passed, he quickly began to reflect on himself, furrowing his brows to ask Liang Bo in a low voice, “Did I take the joke too far just now?”
Liang Bo spoke the truth: “I don’t think so… I think it was okay.”
Shou Jiaxun nodded blankly, regretting interfering in Guo Duoyu’s family affairs even more. Objectively speaking, they indeed had no blood relation. No matter how good the relationship, he was an outsider.
Guo Duoyu looked silly, but he was actually very smart. It was impossible for him to have spoken those words completely without thinking.
Looking at it from another angle, if he hadn’t thought about it, then what he said was even more likely the unvarnished truth.
President Shou couldn’t help but feel dejected because he realized he had made a very! Very… elementary mistake all these years.
Social interaction between adults requires maintaining a safe distance.
He had been too arrogant before, always placing himself in the position of a protector, thinking Uncle Guo needed his help, his salvation, and even needed him to grant a new life.
But he ignored that Guoran and Guo Duoyu were the true closest relatives who guarded and relied on each other. They had lived interdependently for nearly twenty years. His arrival completely negated Guo Duoyu’s value.
He forgot that for a father, the existence of a son itself already possessed value transcending life.
Shou Jiaxun’s face was full of remorse. He lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, then forced himself to cheer up and walk toward the elevator lobby.
—I managed too much. I’m not anyone to them. I overstepped, meddled, and took myself too seriously.
President Shou shook his head vigorously, forcing himself to stop thinking, and made an important decision: He had to move out. He couldn’t continue to mix into the lives of the Guo father and son.
Before even exiting the elevator, he started messaging a familiar real estate agent: “Help me find a room, close to my company, for one person, around sixty square meters is fine.”
In the middle of the night… the real estate agent actually replied instantly: “No problem. When are you free to view the apartment, President Shou?”
“Tomorrow.” Shou Jiaxun sent this, followed immediately by another: “Morning.”
At a time like this, the urgency of his mood matched the extent of his emotional injury.
Liang Bo was a head taller than Shou Jiaxun and kept his gaze lowered in the elevator, peeking at the other tapping on his phone.
He thought: What Guo Duoyu said just now made a lot of sense, but this dose of medicine seems a bit too strong for Shou Jiaxun.
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