Chapter 85: Thunderbolt, Lightning, Zhou Li (2)

“What was that silly smile for? “Zhou Li looked at him with a frown in the elevator.

Liu Yuan shook his head to deny it and then suddenly thought of something: “When you see those two friends of mine later, please be nice for my sake.”

Zhou Li looked at him in confusion.

“Otherwise they’ll keep making fun of me,” Liu Yuan said. “You just need to be slightly warmer towards me.”

Zhou Li looked away: “What the hell.”

That said, when the two men got to the door, he still moved half a step closer to Liu Yuan and held his arm.

He looked rather like a clingy cute partner.

It was Chen Keyao who opened the door.

He greeted the two into his home, asking if they were hungry or would like to have a snack first.

Liu Yuan and Zhou Li walked into the living room and found they were the last to arrive. The other two men were sitting around the table with their loved ones already, each holding a small bowl.

“Rong Yi made some shrimp wontons. They are absolutely delicious. Shall I get you some, too?” Chen Keyao asked.

Rong Yi was a real good wife.

Liu Yuan was lucky enough to have eaten his dishes once. They were fantastic, with all the nice colours and flavours. Even though he was upset that day, he still couldn’t ignore the delicious taste.

Today’s shrimp wontons were also perfect. The wraps was so thin and transparent but not sticky. The stuffing was tasty and fragrant, and the shrimps were yummy and bouncy. They tasted even more amazing when eaten together with the purple seaweed and shredded eggs in the soup.

Liu Yuan ate two bowls in one go and tried to get more, but was plainly turned down.

“Rong Yi has a lot of dishes prepared for tonight.” Chen Keyao gave him a look of contempt, “Haven’t you had any lunch before you came?”

“No,” Liu Yuan said without any guilt, “I make sure I have an empty stomach when someone invites me to dinner.”

“No shame,” Chen Keyao said with a smile as he turned his eyes to Zhou Li. “You need to keep him under control.”

Zhou Li was stunned, and then, somehow, his face turned red, without saying a word.

The old classmates rarely met up, so the atmosphere was naturally warm and happy.

Except for Chen Keyao, everyone else met Zhou Li for the first time, so it was hard not to use him to make fun of Liu Yuan.

The head of the dorm asked Zhou Li: “Do you want to know what this kid did in university?”

Zhou Li glanced at Liu Yuan and nodded cautiously.

Liu Yuan was very nervous. He was afraid these two heartless, deliberate meddlers would mention his complex emotional experience, so he tried to change the topic.

“Hey, how come I haven’t seen Rong Yi yet today? Where is he?” He said to Zhou Li, “Why don’t you go and have a look at him?”

Rong Yi was of course busy in the kitchen.

But it was a rare occasion when Zhou Li was not that keen to go to see Rong Yi, on the contrary, he seemed genuinely interested in Liu Yuan’s experience.

Seeing this, the dorm leader smiled mysteriously and asked Zhou Li: “How is our Yuan treating you? Is he nice?”

Zhou Li was a bit reserved: “Nice.”

But probably because he thought of what Liu Yuan had said before coming in here, he quickly corrected himself: “Very nice.”

Liu Yuan was in pain, worried that the two rascals would immediately tell the story of his “licking until there was nothing left at all”.

He was afraid that Zhou Li would mind, but he was also afraid that Zhou Li would not mind at all.

To avoid this, he resorted to a self-destructive solution.

“Anyone’s got cigarette?”

Immediately after he said that, Zhou Li frowned.

Liu Yuan had been smoking since university, and could smoke a whole pack a day while he was busy at work.

But recently he had given up.

Because the first time he finally got the courage to kiss Zhou Li, Zhou Li was dodging him and asked him with a bitter face, ‘What’s that smell?’

People who smoke usually don’t realize the smell on themselves.

Liu Yuan was so annoyed with that, so he finally made the decision to stay away from the smell that would make Zhou Li uncomfortable.

It had been working very well.

Zhou Li of course did not reject his kissing anymore, but still hated the smell of cigarettes.

Seeing the dorm leader started to distribute cigarettes among themselves, Zhou Li immediately stood up, saying that he would go and check if there was anything in the kitchen that he could help with.

Liu Yuan held the cigarette in hand, but didn’t light it up.

He didn’t want to smoke, because he wanted to kiss Zhou Li more. That was kind of addictive too.

As the room was shrouded in smoke, he made an excuse to go to the toilet and then run to the kitchen, which was diagonally across from the toilet, to look for Zhou Li. Just around the corner, he saw Zhou Li standing at the entrance of the kitchen, looking a bit awkward.

Curious, Liu Yuan started tiptoeing subconsciously. Zhou Li noticed him and began to make gestures at him immediately.

“Shall we go back to the living room?” He said to Liu Yuan with a voice like a thief.

Liu Yuan glanced at the kitchen, and immediately understood.

Rong Yi was busy at the counter, with an unhelpful Alpha hanging behind him.

Chen Keyao put his hands around Rong Yi’s waist from behind and put his head on Rong Yi’s shoulder. It was unclear what he was saying and laughing about. And then, he turned his face towards Rong Yi and kissed him slightly on the face.

And then Rong Yi turned to him and closed his eyes to kiss him.

Zhou Li pulled Liu Yuan’s sleeve toward the living room with a blushing face.

As he dragged him forward, Liu Yuan thought secretly that it would be difficult for him and Zhou Li to do that, because with their height difference, if he held Zhou Li from behind, his chin would be resting on top of Zhou Li’s head.

Then how should they kiss like that? He would need to bend down and Zhou Li would need to stand on his toes.

The living room was smoky, and Zhou Li didn’t want to go back in there.

The two of them stood in the hallway. Zhou Li looked at him in a discontented manner.

“Is there anything shameful that you are afraid of me finding out?” He asked.

“I’m afraid these people would deliberately tarnish my image because they envy me,” Liu Yuan said. “Envy between Alphas is also terrifying.”

Zhou Li looked at him: “What do they envy you about?”

Liu Yuan didn’t speak, just looked at him with a smile.

Zhou Li’s face turned red.

“I want to kiss you like that too.” Liu Yuan leaned forward and whispered to him.

Zhou Li’s face reddened even more: “I......I can’t cook.”

“It’s okay,” Liu Yuan raised his hand and gestured with his index finger and thumb. “I can cook a little bit.”

He then imagined, if Zhou Li held him from behind like this, he could probably bury his cheeks on his back.

Zhou Li looked down and whispered: “Let’s talk about that when back home!”

Chen Keyao told the two older brothers off for smoking in the living room because of Liu Yuan’s encouragement.

The reason was that his partner was now pregnant and could not smell these poisonous gases. He turned off the air-conditioning, opened all the doors and windows, which left everyone trembling with cold.

“Liu Yuan said he wanted to smoke!” The dorm leader testified.

Liu Yuan shrugged: “I didn’t smoke.”

Zhou Li laughed, standing beside Liu Yuan. He gave Liu Yuan an ambivalent poke in the back as he laughed.

It was not very comfortable, kind of tickling, but strangely it was really sweet.

Liu Yuan drank a lot during dinner.

Zhou Li had never seen him drink before. He was panicky as beer cans piled up beside his feet.

Everyone in the room was encouraging Chen Keyao to drink a cup. This man used to use driving as an excuse to avoid drinking, but now he was at his own home, so that was no longer a good excuse.

Chen Keyao was very firm until Rong Yi also joined the group to persuade him to drink.

“It’s rare for your old classmates to gather together today, so you have to show some hospitality. Anyway, you’re home, so it doesn’t matter if you have a drink or two.”

After he said that, he even took the initiative to help Chen Keyao get another glass and pour some wine in it.

Chen Keyao looked extremely puzzled when he looked at him.

Then he drank the small glass of wine under Rong Yi’s expectant eyes.

Liu Yuan never imagined that this would be the beginning of his own end.

The two men who had seemed to want to tell all initially turned out to be very measured and didn’t say much at all. Of course, it might be because they simply didn’t have a chance to say anything.

Chen Keyao said it all.

“He,” Chen Keyao pointed to Liu Yuan for the 23rd time, “secretly cried. I saw it. I pretended I didn’t because I was afraid he’d mind.”

“You’re absolutely bullshitting!” Liu Yuan was crazy, “You haven’t been drinking very much but how can you say such nonsense!”

Chen Keyao put on a very serious face: “It was true. I really saw it. You blew your nose in your bed that day. I thought you had a cold, and when I looked closely...... ”

“You were dreaming!” Liu Yuan interrupted him.

“When was that?” Zhou Li suddenly cut in.

Chen Keyao said with a thoughtful face: “I think......I’m getting confused. He’d been dumped too many times...... ”

“Don’t listen to him,” Liu Yuan struggled. “No such a thing at all.”

“It was really true,” Chen Keyao was not letting go. “I’m not making it up. Didn’t I go out to drink with you at the barbeque restaurant, although I didn’t drink?”

Liu Yuan was desperate, even wanting to end friendship with him.

At this point, Rong Yi suddenly cut in: “You go wash those dishes in the kitchen.”

Chen Keyao nodded obediently, stood up and walked away.

“He likes to talk a lot of nonsense after drinking,” Rong Yi smiled. “Please take no notice of him.”

However, Chen Keyao suddenly turned back.

“I’m not talking nonsense! It was true!”

Rong Yi started at him anxiously: “Just go!”

Liu Yuan felt a particularly bad headache.

He couldn’t tell whether it was because he had been drinking too much today or it was just caused by Chen Keyao. Rong Yi later snuck in and apologized, saying that he was embarrassed that Chen Keyao mentioned that.

On the surface, Liu Yuan said that it was okay, but deep down he was in a panic.

He wanted to know if Zhou Li minded it.

But no matter whether Zhou Li minded or not, it seemed he wouldn’t be happy.

The two did not call a cab immediately after they came out of Chen Keyao and Rong Yi’s home. Zhou Li had drunk a little too. He said he was feeling hot and wanted to get some fresh air.

So they walked on the sidewalk side by side.

After a few steps, Liu Yuan tried to hold Zhou Li’s hand, and Zhou Li also responded to his grasp.

“Was what he said really true?” Zhou Li asked.

Liu Yuan felt a little embarrassed and wondered whether to deny it.

“That woman was so annoying.” Zhou Li added.

“... ”

Zhou Li continued: “You really don’t have a good taste. Why do you always fall for people like them?”

“I...... ”

Zhou Li suddenly stopped.

He turned to Liu Yuan without looking up.

Liu Yuan thought he was going to say something, but he waited for a long time and heard nothing.

So he volunteered: “I think I have very good taste this time.”

After a quiet moment, Zhou Li nodded: “Well yes.”

Then he pulled his hand out of Liu’s grasp.

Just when Liu Yuan was feeling puzzled, he stood on his toes and held Liu Yuan’s cheeks with his hands and closed his eyes.

This was the first time Zhou Li kissed him on his own initiative since their dating. It was so fleeting that Liu Yuan had not even quite come back to his senses.

“No. There won’t be next time any more.” After Zhou Li said that, he held Liu Yuan’s hand and kept walking.

“Huh?” Liu Yuan licked his lips, “Really? No, you’re not going to kiss me any more in your life?”

“I’m not talking about this!” Zhou Li looked back at him, with a very annoyed look, “I mean, there will be no more that kind of sad stories.”

“... ”

Zhou Li bowed his head again and walked forward: “You have a good taste this time.”

Liu Yuan was dragged by him and had to quicken his pace.

He smiled and thought quietly to himself that patience and effort really would pay off.

Just like the hamster he kept, he spent time, energy, affection, and eventually he was willing to be sitting on his palm, happily eating the sunflower seeds.

This time, he didn’t have to worry that his hamster would leave him too early.

The author’s note:

The thought in Zhou Li’s mind as he bowed his head and kept silent was: Great that you two had broken up, but he was too embarrassed to say it.