OCY - Chapter 18

Chapter 18, Barbecue

After the midterm exams concluded, Shen Shaoyan suggested that everyone go out and have some fun together.

"Look, Xiaoxue has been at Deyin for over half a year, almost a year now, and we still haven't gone out to play together," Shen Shaoyan said, giving a valid reason. "Anyway, you two don't have anything to do during the break."

Lu Yu said, "I do. I have piano lessons."

Shen Shaoyan ruthlessly exposed him, "Bullshit! Your piano lesson is on Saturday afternoon, tomorrow is Wednesday!"

Lu Yu frowned, muttering to himself, "Forgot you have a good memory."

"I can hear you." Lu Yu disliked going out. Shen Shaoyan didn't know how many times he had been rejected by him, but this time he was determined to drag him along. "You're not allowed to bail on me!"

Lu Yu was speechless, "Didn't I go out with you once last time?"

Shen Shaoyan said righteously, "That was a party. This time, we're going out to have fun together. Is that the same?"

He looked at Gu Hengzhi and Ji Linxue, "Heng Ge, Xiaoxue, you both have time, right?"

Then he quickly added, "No, you definitely do. Xiaoxue doesn't have anything to do except read books, and Heng Ge doesn't need to go home. So, it's settled then, happily agreed! We'll depart tomorrow afternoon, and I'll decide the location."

Gu Hengzhi, Ji Linxue, "..."

Their itinerary was inexplicably confirmed, but the three didn't spoil Shen Shaoyan's enthusiasm and agreed.

Before departing the next day, Lu Yu called Gu Hengzhi to the balcony, closed the door, and then took out a thin stack of documents from his handbag.

Lu Yu handed the documents to him, "This is what you asked me to look into earlier."

Actually, on the very first day Ji Linxue moved into their dorm, he had already asked his father's assistant to investigate Ji Linxue's background, but he hadn't told Gu Hengzhi about it.

Until today, this information came in handy again.

Gu Hengzhi glanced at it but didn't take it, "No need."

He had already figured it out now, it didn't matter anymore. No matter why Ji Linxue came to his side, he accepted it.

Lu Yu said, "Oh," then drew out his words, "Are you sure you don't want to see it?"

He had to admit, he knew Gu Hengzhi well. The latter's interest was indeed piqued, "Is there a problem?"

Lu Yu said, "Clean background, no problems."

Gu Hengzhi's confusion deepened, "If there's something, just say it. When did you start beating around the bush?"

"Actually, it's nothing," Lu Yu observed his expression. "I found out that Ji Linxue has a very close neighbor. They are childhood sweethearts. Something happened to this neighbor's family, and he gave all his savings to them—prize money from competitions, roughly twenty thousand."

Gu Hengzhi's brow relaxed, his tone containing a hint of pride he didn't even realize, "He's naturally a kind-hearted person."

Lu Yu, "..."

Gu Hengzhi, "Is that all you wanted to say?"

Lu Yu finally understood Shen Shaoyan's frustration. If Gu Hengzhi weren't his cousin, he wouldn't bother with him at all.

Gu Hengzhi glanced at him, "You don't need to tell me about these things anymore. I know how good he is."

Lu Yu, "..." Heh heh.

While they were chatting, Shen Shaoyan had just woken up. He had slept until noon. After a hasty wash-up, he dragged the other three from the dorm out the door.

None of them had eaten lunch. Shen Shaoyan dragged them to a barbecue restaurant. The restaurant was bustling with business, crowded and lively, and a group of people were sitting by the entrance waiting for their number.

Gu Hengzhi and Lu Yu rarely came to such places. They both looked at Shen Shaoyan in unison, "Are we really eating here?"

Shen Shaoyan patted his chest, "Trust me, the food at this place is superb."

Although there were many people queuing, the dining speed was fast. They were called after waiting for just over ten minutes.

Shen Shaoyan clacked away on his phone, ordering a huge pile of meat, then greeted them, "Anything else you want to eat? Just order it."

Gu Hengzhi said, "Order another eggplant."

"When did you become a vegetarian?" Lu Yu regretted his words as soon as he spoke them. Sure enough—

"Xiaoxue likes it."

Ji Linxue, "?"

He was too lazy to fuss over the nickname, but Gu Hengzhi, why are you starting to use it too?

The dishes were served quickly, all prepared ingredients that needed to be grilled by themselves.

They left late, and Shen Shaoyan, especially, hadn't had breakfast. He was already starving. He stared intently at the grill pan. Seeing Gu Hengzhi first pick up the eggplant and arrange it in a circle around the edge, he complained loudly, "Heng Ge, do you even know how to grill? Put the meat on first, I'm starving! Eggplant takes forever to cook!"

Gu Hengzhi's movements were unhurried, "You won't starve."

After putting on the eggplant, he finally placed a few pieces of meat under Shen Shaoyan's ravenous gaze.

Just then, a sweet voice suddenly came from beside them, "Handsome, could I get your WeChat?"

The few of them turned their heads. Standing by the table was a girl about 1.6 meters tall. She was very cute, wearing a pink ruffled camisole dress, her pink lips slightly curved, "Can I?"

Her question was directed at Ji Linxue. Ji Linxue was momentarily stunned. Before he could speak, Gu Hengzhi suddenly put down his tongs, his face turning incredibly gloomy.

Ji Linxue couldn't quite grasp his meaning and apologized to the girl, "Sorry, it's not convenient."

"Okay." The girl was a little disappointed, but didn't leave, her gaze shifting to Gu Hengzhi, "Then can I have yours?"

Shen Shaoyan whispered enviously and jealously, "Quite greedy."

Gu Hengzhi also didn't give it. The girl then awkwardly left, but Shen Shaoyan noticed that she kept secretly looking over at them after returning to her seat.

Actually, it wasn't just them, people at other tables were also subtly observing. One handsome guy wasn't rare, but two handsome guys appearing at the same time was very eye-catching.

Handsome guys were rare these days, not to mention that they were all over 1.8 meters tall. Lu Yu and Shen Shaoyan weren't bad-looking either. The four of them going out together garnered a lot of attention. They had been asked for their WeChat by many girls on the way there, but apart from Shen Shaoyan, none of the others had given it out.

At the other table.

The others gathered around the girl in the pink dress, "What did you just say?"

The girl in the pink dress pouted, "I just asked them for their WeChat. I asked the fair-skinned, cool handsome guy first, he didn't give it. Then I asked the black-clothed handsome guy, and he didn't give it either."

"Is it that difficult? Even Qiqi, who's so pretty, failed."

"Ahhh! I finally met such a charming guy."

"I've been reborn, and in my reborn life, I died at the first step of conquering a handsome guy."

The others chuckled.

"Then what do we do? Just miss out?"

"I still want to try. Look at the table across from us, they seem to be watching too. Don't let anyone steal a march on us, sisters!"

"Could it be that they don't like this type?" A girl suggested, "How about we send someone else?"

Everyone else agreed, "That works."

So they sent a tall girl, with a long ponytail, heroic eyebrows, and long, straight, white legs.

The others watched her nervously, then saw her stop halfway, as if she had seen something, her steps abruptly halted, and then she walked back, blushing.

A group of people watched her eagerly, becoming curious babies, "What happened? What happened?"

"Sisters, it's a no-go." Although she said this, her face was flushed, and she was very excited. "Those two handsome guys are a couple."

"Huh???"

The heroic girl raised an eyebrow, vividly describing, "The moment I went over, I saw the black-clothed handsome guy putting meat on the white-skinned handsome guy's plate. They were leaning close together, and the black-clothed handsome guy even pinched his face!"

"What else could they be if not a couple?" Her tone was firm. "What straight guy would pick food for his buddy and pinch his face?"

The others sighed mournfully, "Alright, no chance."

Ji Linxue pushed the hand away from his face and glared at Gu Hengzhi, "What are you doing?"

Gu Hengzhi wasn't scared by him and said casually, "Your face really doesn't have much meat. You need to eat more to put on some weight."

To conceal his chaotic emotions, Ji Linxue lowered his head, his voice cool, "I can pick it myself."

Since their relationship had grown closer, physical contact had increased, but most of it was when his hand hadn't recovered, like helping him sit up or washing his hair. This was the first time Gu Hengzhi had pinched his face, and he felt a strange sensation in his heart.

He didn't suspect anything, only finding Gu Hengzhi somewhat inexplicable.

After a filling barbecue meal, the group headed to Shen Shaoyan's next chosen location.

Seeing the words "Hot Spring Pool" written above, Lu Yu bluntly said, "Coming to soak right after eating? What are you thinking?"

"Don't be impatient," Shen Shaoyan grinned. "You'll know once you go in with me."

The three were half-convinced and followed him inside.

This was a membership-based bathing center. It had not only hot spring pools but also saunas and steam rooms. After changing their clothes, the four entered the main hall together.

The main hall had various lounge sofas, some for groups and some individual. The tables were laden with desserts, fruits, drinks, and other items.

"This place is open 24 hours. You can stay all day. There's also a gym, a cinema, a game room, and more inside. Guaranteed to keep you entertained."

They first spent two hours in the game room, which had many competitive multiplayer games that required controller operation.

Except for Shen Shaoyan, the other three rarely played such games. Shen Shaoyan lorded it over them, loudly proclaiming them to be noobs.

But soon he couldn't laugh anymore. Gu Hengzhi learned quickly. After figuring out the rules, he directly surpassed Shen Shaoyan's score. Lu Yu followed closely behind.

However, Ji Linxue might not have unlocked the gaming skill. No matter how much he practiced, his score remained below Shen Shaoyan's.

Shen Shaoyan relentlessly teased, "Hahaha, I'm finally not at the bottom!"

Gu Hengzhi glanced at him, walked behind Ji Linxue, and held his hand to control the joystick, "Like this first. There's a place here where you can pick up items. Press this button, yes, this is the skill..."

The boy's scent gradually enveloped him. Ji Linxue was engrossed in the game, not noticing that Gu Hengzhi had already enveloped him in his embrace.

He manipulated the controls skillfully. His character moved forward step by step under his control, quickly surpassing Shen Shaoyan's score. Ji Linxue's lips curved upwards as he continued to operate the joystick, making his game character run forward.

Gu Hengzhi released his hand. A faint, pleasant cool scent lingered around his nose—it was Ji Linxue's scent.

When Ji Linxue first arrived at the dorm, Shen Shaoyan had asked him why he smelled so good. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, but now he genuinely experienced it.

It really was fragrant and smelled very good.

He stared at the slender neck in front of him. Against the backdrop of dark hair, that inch of skin appeared even cleaner and fairer.

A tingling sensation suddenly arose between his teeth. Gu Hengzhi forcibly suppressed this feeling and went to stand outside for a while.

When he came back in, Shen Shaoyan loudly accused him, "This is unfair! Can you even teach someone how to play games hand-in-hand?"

Gu Hengzhi shrugged, "If you're bad, don't complain."

Shen Shaoyan was furious, gripping the joystick and indignantly saying, "Watch me win against you!"

Gu Hengzhi ignored him and asked Ji Linxue, "Do you want to eat some fruit?"

Lu Yu quickly answered, "I want grapes and watermelon."

Ji Linxue said, "I'll have watermelon too. What do you want to eat? I'll go get it."

He insisted on going, so Gu Hengzhi could only sit down, "I'm the same as you, watermelon."

"Okay."

Ji Linxue returned to the main hall. This club was quite private, with a high membership threshold, and since it was a weekday, not many people were there.

Only a few scattered individuals were sitting in the main hall. He walked to the long table where the fruits were displayed and picked up some grapes and watermelon with a plate.

The fruits here were very fresh, as if they had just been cut. Ji Linxue took a little more, holding one plate in each hand.

He turned around, about to walk towards the game room, but his peripheral vision caught sight of two figures just emerging from the private cinema.