Chapter 54
Lin Zheng seemed surprised. He leaned his ear toward Gu Lin, wanting to hear more clearly. “What?”
After all, from his perspective, there was nothing wrong with calling Yan Yang “bro.” Besides, Yan Yang was indeed a few years older than him, so it was actually Gu Lin who was being strange.
Seeing that Lin Zheng didn’t understand what he meant, Gu Lin couldn’t help but sigh.
Lin Zheng didn’t know what Gu Lin was sighing about.
He only felt that the distance between them was far too close right now. Gu Lin was in front of him, and the wall was behind him. Not only that, but Gu Lin’s arm was still wrapped around his waist. This was really not appropriate.
He placed his hand on Gu Lin’s arm and patted the firm muscle lightly. “How about you let me go first?” he whispered.
He was genuinely afraid that Yan Yang, who had just left, would turn around and come right back. Yan Yang had done that sort of thing before.
But not only did Gu Lin not let go, he tightened the arm around his waist. “Call me that once, and I’ll let you go.”
Lin Zheng looked at Gu Lin’s expression; he seemed to be acting like a spoiled child.
Lin Zheng thought about it. What was so hard about calling him “bro”? Gu Lin was a few years older than him, just like Yan Yang, so it would be perfectly natural to call him that.
But for some reason, looking at Gu Lin’s face, Lin Zheng found it amusing. And thinking about how Gu Lin always used to tease him, a sudden desire for “revenge” sparked within him.
Although the word “bro” wasn’t hard to say, the key was that Gu Lin wanted to hear it.
Gu Lin wants me to say it? Heh. Then I’m specifically not going to.
The mischievous delight in his heart was clearly visible on his face.
Gu Lin found it strange. He wondered what his little rabbit was so happy about.
This time, instead of being pinned against the wall by Gu Lin, Lin Zheng leaned back against it leisurely. He patted the back of Gu Lin’s hand with one of his own and placed the other on Gu Lin’s broad left shoulder. In a solemn tone, as if he were about to deliver a grand lecture, he said, “Gu Lin, ah, listen to me. It’s just a very common form of address. We’ve been calling each other by our names for so long, why get hung up on the age difference, on a simple title? If I really called you…” Lin Zheng swallowed the word “bro” that was about to escape, skipped over it, and continued, “…then you’d have to call me ‘little brother’ in return. ‘Little brother,’ tsk, doesn’t that sound weird? Let’s not do that. Let’s just keep calling each other by our names from now on, how about that?”
“Is it that hard for you to call me that once?” Gu Lin asked.
Lin Zheng wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that when Gu Lin asked this question, he looked a little wronged.
But… Lin Zheng thought about it and decided it must be his imagination.
Because this was Gu Lin. Gu Lin. No one could make him feel wronged.
Lin Zheng cleared his throat with a fist to his mouth.
Gu Lin thought he was about to say it.
But then Lin Zheng coughed again, as if deliberately teasing him, and looked away. “I’m hungry. I want to eat. And after I eat, I have to put away the clothes that dried during the day.”
His voice was thick with a nasal tone.
Gu Lin was defeated.
Lin Zheng looked at Gu Lin, who had lowered his head and sighed, a triumphant smile unconcealed on his face.
So, what goes around comes around.
This is what you get for always teasing me before.
After a simple dinner, Lin Zheng went upstairs to collect the laundry. There were his clothes and Gu Lin’s, though only a few of Gu Lin’s casual outfits. Gu Lin’s suits had to be sent to a professional dry cleaner. He couldn’t handle those; he was afraid he’d ruin one of Gu Lin’s six-figure suits.
And if he ruined it, that would be one thing. More importantly, with his current financial situation, he might not even be able to afford to replace it.
“Sigh~”
Lin Zheng sighed. So why wouldn’t Gu Lin let him go back to the company? If he went back to the company, he would have money. He could work and earn money.
Lin Zheng shook his head. He had no idea what Gu Lin was thinking.
The dried clothes had a faint, fresh scent, which Lin Zheng had intentionally added during the wash.
He took the clothes off the hangers one by one, putting Gu Lin’s in one pile and his own in another.
When he got to Gu Lin’s athletic sweatshirt, he sat on the floor and held it up with both hands.
Gu Lin was not only tall but also broad-shouldered. He always wore clothes several sizes larger. Lin Zheng held the sweatshirt up to his own chest and looked in the mirror on the wall.
The sweatshirt was much wider and longer than his own body.
Lin Zheng looked at how the sweatshirt looked on him and muttered to himself, “You know, it actually looks pretty good. I’ll ask Gu Lin where he bought it later.”
After admiring it, he put the sweatshirt down, folded it neatly, and placed it in the laundry basket.
Gu Lin didn’t wear this sweatshirt very often.
After folding and putting away all the clothes, Lin Zheng stood up, patted his pants, and carried the basket back to his room.
After putting the clothes away, Lin Zheng remembered that he still hadn’t asked Gu Lin about his family’s preferences.
So he went to the kitchen again, found Gu Lin polishing a wine glass, and asked him.
Gu Lin turned around, leaned against the counter, and skillfully wiped the wine glass with a white cloth. He asked, feigning ignorance, “You want me to tell you?”
Lin Zheng nodded seriously.
But Gu Lin half-lowered his eyelids, a lazy expression on his face. “Then you have to call me ‘bro’ first.”
Lin Zheng: “…”
Does he have to be so persistent?
As if a thought occurred to him, Gu Lin slowly added, “Or… calling me ‘gege’ would also work.”
Lin Zheng: “…!”
Wait, “ge” and “gege” were only one character apart, the only difference being that one was a single character and the other was a repeated one. But why did they sound so different?
Lin Zheng wasn’t sure if it was because Gu Lin had intentionally emphasized his tone when he said it, or if it was the word itself, but he felt that the term “gege” sounded a little improper.
He had already decided not to let Gu Lin get his way, so of course, he wouldn’t just say it.
He lifted his chin and asked, “Are you going to tell me or not?”
He was acting quite self-righteous now.
Gu Lin shrugged.
The answer was already obvious.
Lin Zheng: “Fine. I’ll find out myself.”
Lin Zheng was very determined. When he said he wouldn’t ask, he meant it. He turned his head and went upstairs.
Who doesn’t have their own intelligence network?
If he couldn’t get the information from Gu Lin, he still had Yan Yang.
Since Yan Yang knew both of Gu Lin’s older brothers, he should also know his mother.
Lin Zheng squatted at the foot of the bed with his phone.
Actually, Lin Zheng had already looked up information about Gu Lin’s family on his phone before. After all, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. The original book only mentioned a few words, so he had to look online for more information.
But the Gu family… the ones who were in the public eye were Gu Lin’s father and his two older brothers. Gu Lin’s mother had never appeared from beginning to end. It wasn’t that the Gu family treated her badly; it was quite the opposite. It was precisely because they protected this woman so well that there was no information about her online.
So it was really difficult to find out about Gu Lin’s mother’s preferences online.
Gu Lin’s mother was not the biological mother of his two older brothers; she had married his father later. But she treated the two sons as if they were her own, and the two children were also very sensible and treated her with respect. The Gu family didn’t have any of the melodramatic drama you see on TV; on the contrary, they got along very harmoniously.
Lin Zheng called Yan Yang. It took a long time for him to answer. When he did, perhaps because he hadn’t fully recovered from his earlier mood, his “Hello?” sounded very wronged. Then Lin Zheng seemed to hear someone say something in the background, and he heard Yan Yang say, “What pretty young lady? This is a guy, a guy, my colleague. Not a young lady. If it were a young lady, I wouldn’t have answered…”
Lin Zheng: “…”
Yan Yang said a few more placating words on his end.
He must have finally calmed the person down, because when he got back on the phone with him, his tone had returned to normal. “Yeah, what’s up?”
Lin Zheng asked his question.
Yan Yang: “What does Gu Lin’s mother like?”
Yan Yang was puzzled. “You don’t know?”
How could I know? Lin Zheng thought. Just this afternoon, I mistook her for someone in a relationship with Gu Lin.
But he didn’t say that out loud. After all, he would be laughed at if he did.
Lin Zheng: “I don’t know, so I’m asking you.”
Yan Yang said, “Alright, then. I’ll tell you now, so you better remember. Gu Lin’s mother is a big collector of jade. If you want to give her a gift, you can pick a piece of jade with collection value.”
Yan Yang added, “Oh, by the way, speaking of jade, it’s hard to tell the real from the fake. If you don’t know how to pick, just show them that high-quality lover’s knot that Gu Lin gave you and tell them you want something like that. They’ll see that you know your stuff and won’t dare to try and fool you with a fake.”
Lin Zheng listened to Yan Yang’s long speech and picked out the keyword: “The lover’s knot Gu Lin gave me? What lover’s knot?”
Hearing this, Yan Yang was shocked. “Damn, don’t tell me Gu Lin still hasn’t given you that piece of jade?”
Lin Zheng was stunned. “…No, he hasn’t. What lover’s knot?”
Yan Yang said, “Gu Lin bought that the last time he went home to visit his parents. He said it symbolized longing for a lover and would protect the wearer. So he bought it for you.”
Lin Zheng said, “But I didn’t know anything about it at the time.”
Yan Yang said, “Of course you didn’t know. How could you know? You had already packed your bags and flown away from Gu Lin by then.”
Hearing this, Lin Zheng remembered.
The last time Gu Lin went home was the day he had planned to leave.
He had received a text message from Gu Lin.
In the message, Gu Lin had asked him to wait for him to come back, saying he had a gift for him.
But he hadn’t waited for Gu Lin, and he hadn’t taken the message seriously. After reading it, he had changed his SIM card.
Longing, protection.
This was what Gu Lin had wanted to give him.
Unfortunately, at that time, he had received nothing.
Lin Zheng held the phone to his ear, his voice low as he said to Yan Yang, “Thank you for telling me what Gu Lin’s mother likes.”
Yan Yang said, “Don’t mention it. I’m your bro, after all. By the way, I’ll also tell you what Gu Lin’s father likes…”
Lin Zheng, in a low voice, said bluntly, “No need. I know.”
Yan Yang: “…”
Yan Yang: “Alright, then. If there’s anything else you want to know, just ask me.”
Lin Zheng: “Okay.”
After hanging up, Lin Zheng looked towards the door.
He stood up and walked out.
As he went downstairs, he held onto the railing and saw that Gu Lin was still in the kitchen.
Lin Zheng walked towards him.
Gu Lin hung up the polished glasses one by one. Looking at two of the wine glasses hanging side by side, a smile appeared on his face.
Just as he was about to turn and get the remaining glasses, a pair of hands wrapped around his waist. He looked down and saw a pair of fair hands reaching around him, holding him tight. At the same time, a warmth spread across his back.
Gu Lin froze.
Lin Zheng’s voice came from behind him, soft and gentle. “Gu Lin, I received it.”
I received it. The sentiment you wanted to give me.
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