Chapter 13: The Over-Familiar Friend
Before Yu Tingzhou could react, he felt a burst of pain in his chest, accompanied by a wet sensation.
He decided he needed to think of a way to send a certain drunkard to sober up.
So, he grabbed Shen Zhouyue by the collar, lifted him up, and walked toward the bathroom.
With his collar being pulled, Shen Zhouyue felt a bit suffocated around his neck and felt wronged. “Uncomfortable… let me go…”
He began to struggle.
His slender legs swung in the air like a swing.
Shen Zhouyue seemed to find joy in this movement and suddenly became happy.
He started swinging his legs back and forth like he was on a swing set.
Yu Tingzhou’s hand slipped, and he almost lost his grip on the collar.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and instantly wrapped his arm around Shen Zhouyue’s waist, preventing him from falling to the floor.
Exasperated, Yu Tingzhou picked Shen Zhouyue up, positioned him face down over the sink, and gave his buttocks a slap.
“Can’t you be a little well-behaved!”
In his daze, Shen Zhouyue felt a sting of pain on his butt. His expression was blank, his sluggish brain unable to process it immediately.
When he finally snapped out of it, his eyes instantly turned red. Tears swirled in his sockets as he sobbed quietly, looking utterly aggrieved.
Yu Tingzhou had just filled the bathtub with water when he saw Shen Zhouyue lying on the sink, maintaining the same posture, looking pitiful.
He lifted Shen Zhouyue by the waist and placed him directly into the water.
Feeling himself submerged in a warm and comfortable place, Shen Zhouyue immediately forgot his earlier grievance.
Wrapped in warm water, his whole body felt cozy. He raised his hands occasionally, splashing the water in the tub onto Yu Tingzhou.
Yu Tingzhou’s clothes were soaked, but compared to what Shen Zhouyue had done earlier, he felt this was tolerable.
After much effort, he finally got Shen Zhouyue cleaned up and wrapped in the duvet. Yu Tingzhou was covered in sweat.
He washed up briefly and intended to return to his own room, but Shen Zhouyue rolled off the bed with a thump, taking the duvet with him to the floor.
Shen Zhouyue’s eyes reddened again, looking extremely fragile.
Yu Tingzhou rubbed his brow, picked Shen Zhouyue up in his arms, and lay down on the bed.
Sunlight shone into the room through the window.
Shen Zhouyue groggily sensed the sunlight. Finding it glaring, he shifted his body, trying to bury himself under the covers.
But suddenly, the texture beside him felt wrong. Warm and elastic—sheets wouldn’t feel like this.
Shen Zhouyue woke up with a start.
He snapped his eyes open and found himself lying in Yu Tingzhou’s arms.
They say the first time is strange, but the second time is familiar. Shen Zhouyue was much calmer this time.
But soon, his face turned red.
Yu Tingzhou was only wearing close-fitting briefs, while he himself was stark naked. Even a slight movement caused friction between their bodies.
The thin fabric couldn’t hide the morning physiological reaction. The scorching presence behind him was very palpable.
Shen Zhouyue didn’t dare to move anymore.
Didn’t I come back for exactly this… Being like this now is just wasting time…
Shen Zhouyue silently closed his eyes and began a clumsy attempt at seduction.
But his movements were stopped before they even began.
“What are you fussing about early in the morning?”
“I took care of you all night; can’t you be well-behaved for a bit?”
As he spoke, he gave Shen Zhouyue a slap on the buttocks in passing.
This caused Shen Zhouyue to lose the composure to pretend to sleep.
He opened his eyes wide. “You… you actually hit… me…”
The memories of last night began to surface, various scenes flashing through his mind.
Him biting Yu Tingzhou’s chest and refusing to let go while mumbling to himself; him being pressed against the sink and spanked; him being lifted up and swinging like a pendulum.
Shen Zhouyue felt he wanted to switch planets to live on; this planet was no longer suitable for him.
He suddenly pulled the duvet over his head, closed his eyes, and began to escape reality.
“What, remembered what you did yesterday?”
Yu Tingzhou sat up and raked a hand through his hair, a smile on his face. “I was afraid you’d blacked out!”
“Wuwuwu… I will never drink again…”
Shen Zhouyue’s muffled voice came from under the duvet, carrying a tone of grievance and depression, sounding very pitiful.
“Your alcohol tolerance is really poor.”
Yu Tingzhou lifted the duvet, revealing Shen Zhouyue’s face, which had turned red from suffocation.
“I haven’t drunk alcohol before either… how would I know… how would I know my tolerance was this bad…”
If I had known, I would definitely have stayed far away from that stuff, and I wouldn’t be this embarrassed now…
“Did I… was I… very troublesome yesterday…”
Seeing Shen Zhouyue with his head lowered and looking pitiful, Yu Tingzhou reached out and ruffled his hair.
His hair, already messy from sleep, became even messier under Yu Tingzhou’s rubbing.
Shen Zhouyue stared with wide, watery eyes, sporting a bird’s nest on his head, looking somewhat cute.
Yu Tingzhou couldn’t help but laugh. “It was okay, not particularly troublesome.”
“But better not drink in front of others in the future. I’m afraid if you have a drunk fit, others might think I have peculiar interests.”
Before Shen Zhouyue could react, Yu Tingzhou had already gotten up.
His fair skin glowed in the sunlight. Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, well-defined abs, and distinct V-lines—it was a perfect body.
Shen Zhouyue’s fingertips twitched slightly; he had an impulse to pick up a paintbrush and capture this scene immediately.
Unfortunately, the perfect body soon disappeared from view, and he hadn’t brought his usual painting tools back to the country.
“By the way, my friends invited us to go surfing at the beach today. Do you want to go?”
Surfing?
An’an seems to like the sea too, but the sea breeze is too strong, so I haven’t dared to let An’an go to the beach.
Maybe I can take some photos of the sea for An’an…
“Sure… but I can’t swim, so I won’t go in the water. Will that spoil your friends’ fun?”
Shen Zhouyue didn’t want to cause conflict with Yu Tingzhou’s friends.
“Don’t worry, I can teach you.”
“Change into some light clothes; we’ll head out in a bit.”
Before Shen Zhouyue could answer, Yu Tingzhou had already returned to his room.
He got up helplessly and found a set of loose clothes to wear.
When he walked out of the room after changing, he saw Yu Tingzhou wearing a casual floral shirt. The shirt gave off an inexplicable sense of languor, very vacation-like.
It was the first time Shen Zhouyue had seen Yu Tingzhou wear such clothes.
He somewhat suspected he was currently dreaming.
“Let’s go!”
When they reached the hotel lobby, a bus was waiting at the entrance.
Yu Tingzhou’s friends were on the bus.
Seeing the clothes Yu Tingzhou and Shen Zhouyue were wearing, Xu You couldn’t help but say, “Old Yu, these clothes of yours are really this…”
He gave a thumbs up, praising Yu Tingzhou’s outfit.
“Little Shen, your clothes won’t do. Not beach-y at all.”
Xu You greeted Shen Zhouyue with the familiarity of an old friend and showed off his own shirt, which was very vacation-style.
Compared to them, Shen Zhouyue’s clothes did look less suitable.
But Shen Zhouyue hadn’t expected they would go to the beach, so naturally, he didn’t have more appropriate clothing.
Yu Tingzhou wrapped an arm around Shen Zhouyue’s shoulder and smiled. “It’s fine. When we get to the beach, there are places selling clothes. We’ll just buy a set.”
“True enough. Old Yu is a big boss; a set of clothes is nothing.”
“Get on the bus quickly. While the morning sun isn’t too hot, we can play for a while longer. Later, let Old Yu take you to experience surfing; it’s thrilling.”
Beside him, Liu Xuanting said grumpily, “You sure talk a lot.”
Xu You looked at Liu Xuanting’s angry appearance and scratched his head, his eyes a bit confused.
“That’s just his personality; don’t mind him.”
Shen Zhouyue sensed that Liu Xuanting didn’t seem to like him very much, but he didn’t mind and followed Yu Tingzhou onto the bus.
There were five people on the bus in total, all Yu Tingzhou’s friends.
Whether by prior agreement or not, every one of them was wearing a floral shirt, just with different patterns.
It was a completely different vibe from last night.
The hotel wasn’t far from the beach; they arrived in about half an hour.
Along the way, they talked and laughed. Shen Zhouyue sat reservedly beside Yu Tingzhou, unable to insert himself into their topics at all.
He held his phone, chatting with An’an, who was in France.
[Daddy is going to the beach. I’ll show An’an the little crabs later!]
[Really? That’s great! I wonder when I can go to the beach…]
Because An’an didn’t know many characters, they usually used voice messages.
Shen Zhouyue naturally couldn’t listen to An’an’s voice messages in front of so many people, so he converted them all to text.
Just looking at these words, Shen Zhouyue could imagine An’an’s appearance right now.
A smile couldn’t help but appear on his face.
Seeing Shen Zhouyue holding his phone and smiling so sweetly, Liu Xuanting immediately asked suspiciously, “You aren’t chatting with your little lover behind Tingzhou’s back, are you? Smiling so happily.”
Shen Zhouyue reflexively closed the chat window on his phone, which looked guilty and made him even more suspicious.
Liu Xuanting had sat down beside him at some point.
Fortunately, everyone else was chatting, so no one noticed the conversation between Shen Zhouyue and Liu Xuanting.
“I was just sharing my life with my family.”
The phone in his hand vibrated. Shen Zhouyue estimated it was a message from An’an.
He wanted to open the phone immediately to see what An’an had sent, but Liu Xuanting was still there.
He was worried Liu Xuanting would see An’an’s appearance.
After all, he used An’an’s photo as the chat background with him.
If this was seen, An’an’s parentage might very well be exposed…
“Sharing life with family, is it necessary to smile so sweetly?”
Shen Zhouyue didn’t understand why Liu Xuanting was targeting him so much.
He frowned, feeling a bit annoyed, but mindful that Liu Xuanting was Yu Tingzhou’s friend, he had to be patient and explain, “Whether Mr. Liu believes it or not, I was chatting with my family just now.”
“Our relationship shouldn’t be close enough to share these matters, right?”
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