Chapter 38: Teasing
There were only a few people in the house. Shen Zhouyue didn’t need to guess who was knocking; nine times out of ten, it was Wen Qiusheng.
Was he really this impatient?
He just arrived and already had to stir up trouble?
Shen Zhouyue felt a surge of annoyance, but outwardly he remained calm.
“Aren’t you going to open the door?”
Yu Tingzhou continued drying his hair calmly, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
Shen Zhouyue rolled his eyes at him. Wearing a bathrobe and barefoot, he walked toward the door.
Sure enough, when the door opened, he saw Wen Qiusheng.
He was wrapped in a bath towel, dripping wet. A patch of skin on his chest was exposed to the air, revealing a tender pink hue.
Seeing that it was Shen Zhouyue who opened the door, a flash of disgust passed through his eyes, but he quickly adopted a confused expression.
“The water heater in the guest room downstairs seems to be broken… I tried for a long time, but no hot water comes out…”
As Wen Qiusheng spoke, he shivered as if frozen and let out a very delicate sneeze.
“So… I was thinking… could I borrow the bathroom in your room…”
Seeing Shen Zhouyue take so long just to answer the door, Yu Tingzhou frowned and walked toward the entrance.
Before he even reached the door, he heard Wen Qiusheng’s voice and request.
“There is a public bathroom downstairs; you can shower there.”
“It’s late. Zhouyue and I are going to rest.”
Without waiting for Wen Qiusheng to react, Yu Tingzhou grabbed Shen Zhouyue’s arm, pulled him into his embrace, and slammed the door shut.
Wen Qiusheng stood frozen. Before he could speak, ambiguous sounds drifted out from inside the room.
His face turned green with anger. He wanted to bang on the door and separate the two, but in his current “amnesiac” state, he couldn’t do such a thing.
Inside, Shen Zhouyue was pressed down by Yu Tingzhou, looking bewildered. “What are you doing?”
“It’s so obvious, can’t you tell?”
Saying that, Yu Tingzhou leaned down…
Outside, listening to the commotion within, Wen Qiusheng was furious, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
The next day, Shen Zhouyue didn’t wake up until his stomach growled with hunger.
He slowly sat up, his body aching all over.
He frowned, rubbing his sore waist, and cursed inwardly.
Before Shen Zhouyue could get out of bed, he heard a knock. “Mr. Shen… are you awake?”
It was Wen Qiusheng’s voice, sounding timid from outside the door.
Shen Zhouyue frowned. “What is it?”
Wen Qiusheng’s tone carried a hint of surprise as he whispered, “Mr. Shen, I made you some food… do you need me to bring it in?”
Shen Zhouyue wouldn’t dare eat anything Wen Qiusheng made.
Hearing the offer, he immediately refused.
But Wen Qiusheng wouldn’t give up. “Mr. Shen, I spent a long time making this food. Tingzhou used to like it very much. You should at least have a little!”
Shen Zhouyue put on his loungewear and slowly walked to the bedroom door. Opening it, he saw Wen Qiusheng’s eager face and a sandwich held out in front of him.
“I said I don’t want to eat. Can’t you understand?”
“Besides, you should know the relationship between Tingzhou and me. It’s better to have some sense of propriety, lest you ask for trouble.”
Wen Qiusheng’s eyes immediately reddened. He said aggrievedly, “Mr. Shen, I just… I just wanted you to eat something to fill your stomach. It’s… it’s healthier that way…”
He looked truly wronged, and a single clear tear even rolled down his cheek.
Shen Zhouyue was exasperated to the point of laughter by this performance.
“Who are you putting on this act for? Do you want to tell people I’m bullying you?”
Wen Qiusheng shook his head frantically, looking pitiful. “I didn’t mean that, please don’t misunderstand me!”
“I don’t care what your purpose is for living here, but you’d better not provoke me, or I’ll make you regret it.”
“We both know perfectly well whether you’ve lost your memory or not. With just one word from me, you’ll be kicked out of here. So, I advise you to stop these petty tricks in front of me, or else… hmph!”
Dropping those words, Shen Zhouyue retreated into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
His movement was too abrupt, pulling at his waist, and a sharp pain shot through him.
He took a moment to recover before straightening up and grabbing his phone to message Wen Qiuning.
[Your brother is staying at my place now. You can come over whenever you want.]
On the other end of the line, Wen Qiuning was clearly agitated upon seeing the message.
Ignoring that Qiu Xingqiu was just a wall away, he hurriedly called Shen Zhouyue.
“Are you saying he’s there right now?”
“Can I come find you?”
Wen Qiuning’s voice was suppressed extremely low, terrified that Qiu Xingqiu next door would hear.
“Of course!”
“But aren’t you afraid of being seen by Qiu Xingqiu?” Shen Zhouyue asked worriedly. “He should still be at home. If you come over, he’ll likely discover you, and then he’ll use it as an excuse to bully you again.”
Hearing this, Wen Qiuning’s heated brain slowly cooled down.
The surprise on his face vanished completely, replaced by dejection. “Thank you for reminding me, otherwise… I would have again…”
Again been bullied by him in whatever way he pleased…
Thinking of those shameful things, Wen Qiuning wished he could find a crack in the ground to hide in.
“He’s going on a business trip tomorrow. I’ll find a way to come see you tomorrow!”
Just as Wen Qiuning finished speaking, he heard movement outside the door.
Afraid that Qiu Xingqiu would hear his call with Shen Zhouyue, he hurriedly hung up without even waiting for Shen Zhouyue’s reply.
Shen Zhouyue sighed helplessly as he looked at the disconnected call.
To reduce the frequency of seeing Wen Qiusheng—and to avoid losing his temper and hitting him—Shen Zhouyue barely left his room all day.
When evening came, Yu Tingzhou had just returned to find Wen Qiusheng bustling about the house, having prepared a large table of dishes.
He frowned and asked, “Where is Zhouyue? Why are you the only one here?”
Hearing this, Wen Qiusheng put on a troubled expression, glancing carefully upstairs before silently retracting his gaze.
“He… hasn’t come out all day… Is it because my living here makes him unhappy… Maybe, maybe I should just leave!”
Looking at Wen Qiusheng’s act, Yu Tingzhou smiled and said, “If you had anywhere else to go, you wouldn’t have clung to me like your life depended on it.”
“If you enjoy doing these maid duties so much, then fine. We can dismiss the household staff, and you can take over. I’ll pay you ten thousand a month; that should be enough for you to live on.”
Wen Qiusheng had done all this to show off his domestic virtues to Yu Tingzhou. He never expected Yu Tingzhou would actually treat him as a servant.
His eyes went wide in disbelief, rims reddening. “I… I don’t want your money…”
“If you don’t want money, why do you keep pestering a married man?”
Shen Zhouyue was just about to come downstairs when he heard Yu Tingzhou’s remark.
Curious about what answer Wen Qiusheng would give, he didn’t rush to appear at the stairwell but stood in the corridor instead.
“I’m not doing this for money… I don’t remember anything right now, so how would I know you have money?”
“I just felt an inexplicable joy when I saw you, so… so I brazenly wanted to come home with you. I didn’t expect you to think of me this way…”
Wen Qiusheng immediately covered his face with his hands and began to weep softly.
Yu Tingzhou paid no attention to the spectacle. Withdrawing his gaze, he walked toward the stairs.
He had only taken a few steps when he saw Shen Zhouyue in the corridor.
“Since you’re already out, why aren’t you coming down? What are you doing standing there?”
“If I went down, I would have missed this show,” Shen Zhouyue said, a teasing smile on his face as he looked at Yu Tingzhou. “They say it’s hardest to refuse the grace of a beauty. Wen Qiusheng is quite good-looking; didn’t your heart flutter even a little?”
“It seems I didn’t work hard enough yesterday for you to have such thoughts.”
“Since you have the energy to tease me now, your body must have recovered. How about…”
Yu Tingzhou looked at Shen Zhouyue ambiguously, wrapping an arm around his waist, his fingers slowly kneading Shen Zhouyue’s flesh.
Shen Zhouyue had woken up with a faint ache in his stomach and sore muscles; he had no desire to be as crazy as yesterday.
The moment Yu Tingzhou got close, he reflexively pushed him away, eyeing him warily.
“Even work has rest periods. If you go at it like this every day, aren’t you afraid of sudden death?”
Shen Zhouyue rolled his eyes at Yu Tingzhou and walked quickly downstairs. His retreating figure looked a bit flustered, almost as if he were fleeing.
Watching him, Yu Tingzhou couldn’t help but laugh out loud. His clear laughter echoed in the corridor, reaching Shen Zhouyue’s ears and making him turn back to look.
“Since he put so much effort into preparing a table full of food for you, it would be a waste of his feelings not to taste it properly. What are you still standing there for?”
“I didn’t expect to marry such a generous wife, actively pushing me toward someone else. If others knew, they’d surely envy my luck.”
He seems to be in a good mood today; he’s already teased me several times…
Shen Zhouyue frowned, confused. “Are you done yet?”
He glared at Yu Tingzhou with a touch of embarrassment. His emotions showing on his face, his fair skin flushed pink. His glare was shy and timid, showing no real anger, but rather a coquettishness that spoke volumes.
Yu Tingzhou walked quickly to Shen Zhouyue’s side and took his hand. Side by side, they walked to the dining table.
As they walked, they exchanged glances, the signals passing between them incredibly intimate, as if they had formed a world of their own that could tolerate no third person.
Recommended Reads
