Fortunately, Fu Juncheng considered his psychological resilience to be passable.
The most important thing was that he had a thick skin.
He swallowed hard and shifted his gaze away.
When he glanced over with the corner of his eye once more, that earlier figure had already vanished, and the curtains were tightly drawn, as if what he had seen just moments ago was merely a hallucination.
Fu Juncheng breathed a sigh of relief, but before he even had a chance to slip away, a servant dressed in the uniform standard to the Xu family approached. She looked somewhat elderly, yet her attitude was amicable. “The two of you should change your clothes first. If you stay damp like this, I am afraid you might catch a cold.”
Xie Chen certainly did not hesitate. He gritted his teeth and shot Fu Juncheng a sideways glare. “Consider yourself lucky.”
With that, he familiarized himself with the path and took the lead in entering the house.
This luck.
Fu Juncheng felt a sinking sensation in his heart, and the sound effect of the pass voice line from the Landlord card game automatically flashed through his mind.
He hurriedly waved his hands and said, “Thank you, but there is no need.”
Just as his voice trailed off, Wu Jin cut across him. “Since Aunt Yun said so, it must be the Xu wife’s intention.”
Midway through, his tone softened. “You should hurry along and not disappoint the Xu wife’s kind intentions.”
With all this back and forth, a good deal of time had been wasted.
Despite Fu Juncheng’s repeated declinations, the warm hospitality was ultimately hard to refuse.
Besides, although the original novel did not describe this Xu wife extensively, every time the Xu wife appeared, she possessed an exceptionally gentle and affable persona, making it truly impossible to dislike her.
Perhaps this time, too, the Xu wife had heard about the dispute between him and Xie Chen and purposely sent someone to smooth things over.
Fu Juncheng could not bring himself to reject the Xu wife’s face.
When he was led up to the second floor, the evening banquet downstairs had already begun.
Fu Juncheng brushed past Xie Chen, who had already changed clothes. The other man hurried downstairs, terrified of wasting even a single second, yet the moment he caught sight of Fu Juncheng, his eyes grew angrily red once more. He snorted through his nose and turned his head away, refusing to look at him again.
Wearing his emotions and anger entirely on his face, he was simply throwing a spoiled brat’s temper tantrum.
No wonder he would suffer a huge loss at Wu Jin’s hands in the future.
A wave of speechlessness washed over Fu Juncheng internally, right as he heard Aunt Yun say, “The downstairs is still waiting for me to busy myself. How about this, I will have someone lead you to a guest room.”
Without waiting for Fu Juncheng’s reply, she beckoned and called over a young girl. Judging by her instructions, she must have started working at the Xu family household quite recently.
The other person cautiously sized up Fu Juncheng a few times before silently taking the lead.
The hallway was long and winding. Passing through a brilliantly lit corridor adorned with glowing candles and jewelry-like brilliance, the deeper they walked into the corridor, the more the hustle and bustle from downstairs faded away, leaving the surroundings much quieter.
The two of them stopped at the doorway of the room at the very end of the corridor.
The girl bowed and made a please gesture, whispering, “I will go prepare some clothes for you.”
Fu Juncheng nodded, thinking that if he could stay here and avoid a bit of trouble, it would certainly be a good thing.
As he was internally grumbling like this, his fingertips already brushed against the door lock.
The door in front of him suddenly opened a crack from the inside.
Behind him, the young girl from earlier turned back, muttering under her breath, “I do not know if they will fit, but please try them first. If they do not fit, I will…”
Halfway through her words, she abruptly fell silent.
Half a second later, her voice shot up by several notches. “Young Master, why are you?”
Meanwhile, Fu Juncheng momentarily forgot how to react. After the door swung completely open, he stood there in a daze, staring at the person who had appeared unannounced in his field of vision.
The person before him was about the same height as him, wearing the same loose white shirt that mirrored his own, yet lacking the chill brought by cold water. A wrinkle-free hem gently brushed against the door frame, and lower down were a pair of slender, straight legs, stopping just a step away from him. His long, distinct fingers still rested lightly on the metal door handle.
Fu Juncheng’s phone in his pocket happened to buzz with a vibration.
He froze for a moment, standing still without moving for quite a while.
The other person’s gaze simply swept lightly over his hesitant fingers curled beside the seams of his trousers, and he frowned in a barely perceptible way.
The peach blossom eyes that came into view appeared increasingly profound and aloof in this quiet environment. The outer corners of his eyes lifted slightly, bringing out a thin crease, and he lowered his eyelids slightly as he looked at him.
Cold, detached, and austere.
Instead, it made him look exceptionally alluring.
If he had not guessed wrong, this person should be Xu Yaozhou, the white moonlight in the hearts of countless people from the original novel.
He truly was a beauty Shou.
Fu Juncheng suddenly understood why Wu Jin and the others were so infatuated with Xu Yaozhou.
Even he had almost lost his composure.
It was no wonder Xie Chen had cursed him for trying to imitate a beauty with a clumsy, ugly face; the kind of temperament radiating from the very bones of this beauty was something he could never learn.
He had no idea what kind of blind dog eyes Wu Jin must have had to put the original host by his side as a substitute, and even ridiculously and obsessively forced the original host to imitate the beauty Shou.
This was simply an insult to a person!
Only, Fu Juncheng felt somewhat puzzled.
Had Xu Yaozhou returned to the country already at this time?
Simultaneously, Xu Yaozhou finally shifted his gaze away from Fu Juncheng’s face and looked instead behind Fu Juncheng.
His vocal timbre was as clean and aloof as the person himself, his enunciation clear. “My return was sudden, so the room has not had time to be tidied up yet, and the other guest rooms on the second floor have been reserved by my mother for other guests.”
“I am sorry, I did not know.”
The young girl grew so anxious that her voice took on a crying tone.
“You go tend to your tasks,” Xu Yaozhou said gently.
Those words sounded like heavenly music, and the girl hurriedly replied, “Yes, yes.”
“Right,” Xu Yaozhou added, “there is no need to mention my return to anyone else.”
“Understood.”
The girl nodded repeatedly, turned around, and ran off without a trace.
Leaving Fu Juncheng holding the change of clothes, stuck on the spot staring at each other with big eyes.
It was quite awkward.
Fu Juncheng moved his lips, wanting to speak but hesitating. “You…”
Who would have thought Xu Yaozhou would speak a step ahead of him. “Come in.”
With that, he turned around and walked straight back into the room.
Fu Juncheng hesitated for a short while. Unwilling to go and wrangle with those two brainless scum gongs, he simply followed him inside.
Lifting his eyes, he saw that Xu Yaozhou had already taken a seat on the sofa by the window. The topmost buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned at some point, revealing a slender and distinct collarbone, which, under the sunlight spilling through the gauze curtains, took on an overly pale, translucent quality.
His lip color was also excessively light.
Vaguely resembling a fragile piece of porcelain that needed to be held and protected.
Yet his bone structure lines appeared slightly sharp, and coupled with his long limbs, he did not look weak at all.
Not paying attention earlier, Fu Juncheng now noticed that Xu Yaozhou’s condition seemed somewhat abnormal.
He looked a few more times and suddenly caught sight of a scattering of bloodstains at the other’s waist. Previously concealed by Xu Yaozhou’s sleeve, they now stood out very abruptly against the excessively clean white shirt.
“You are injured?” Presuming it was due to having read a bit of the original novel, as a protagonist fan, Fu Juncheng held a kind of inexplicable affinity for this white-moonlight male lead. Seeing this, he voiced his astonishment.
Xu Yaozhou met Fu Juncheng’s eyes at the sound.
“You are bleeding? The wound is not light? What happened?”
Fu Juncheng was baffled. He did not remember Xu Yaozhou suffering any injuries before returning to the country.
Xu Yaozhou’s handsome brow furrowed slightly once more, as if stirring up some indescribable emotion that vanished in a flash. He shifted his gaze away and said flatly, “It is nothing.”
Fu Juncheng abruptly calmed down.
He and Xu Yaozhou were unrelated strangers to begin with. On the contrary, it was his excessive enthusiasm that made things strange.
“Have you changed your dressing?” Fu Juncheng gave a low cough and said politely, “Do you need me to help?”
Heaven is his witness, he was truly just being polite.
Moreover, he possessed self-awareness. Given Xu Yaozhou’s personality and level of cleanliness, although he would say nothing on the surface due to good upbringing, inwardly he probably wished nothing more than for him to stay as far away as possible.
Let alone such an intimate chore as helping apply medicine.
Not far away, Xu Yaozhou actually gave him a few extra looks, appearing to hesitate for a few seconds.
Fu Juncheng thought to himself that the little brat must surely find him repulsive.
Xu Yaozhou abruptly moved his lips. “Then I will have to trouble you.”
Fu Juncheng answered without the slightest hesitation. “No trouble, it is my…”
Presumptuous.
He paused abruptly.
Fu Juncheng: “???”
Realizing it belatedly, Fu Juncheng froze. “What did you say?”
Xu Yaozhou said unhurriedly, “The iodophor and sterile gauze are in the topmost drawer of the bedside table. I had someone send them over earlier.”
This development was not quite right!
Yet since the words had already reached this point, Fu Juncheng found it truly difficult to refuse.
He could hardly turn around and deny it all on the spot, claiming he was just making a joke a moment ago.
Sigh, it was not funny at all.
Muttering inwardly, Fu Juncheng retrieved the medical kit, and upon turning around, he saw that the beauty had already taken off his top.
It was so sudden.
Fu Juncheng: “…”
Fu Juncheng’s back stiffened, and he subconsciously swallowed.
Noticing something, Xu Yaozhou looked toward him, his dark eyes clear and limpid. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing,” Fu Juncheng swept a careless glance over Xu Yaozhou’s body, biting the bullet as he replied, “Nothing at all.”
Nothing at all, my foot!
Fu Juncheng roared internally, how can this beauty Shou have zero self-defense awareness!
What if he had been someone like that scum gong Wu Jin? He would not even know how he was eaten alive and licked clean!
Tch.
Truly a pure and flawless white moonlight.
Facts proved that Xu Yaozhou’s figure was indeed exceptionally good. The lean muscle lines paired with his high-tier looks presented the thinness unique to a youth, yet without any hint of frailty.
The visual impact was quite substantial.
Fu Juncheng had no idea where to cast his eyes, and after managing to move close to Xu Yaozhou, neither of them spoke for a moment.
A subtle feeling spread through the air.
Cough, cough.
Fu Juncheng cleared his throat, his fingertips lingering near Xu Yaozhou’s waist.
Quite slender, indeed.
He wondered if Xu Yaozhou’s waist injury was severe.
Still, it was fortunate.
He is a Shou.
With his thoughts wandering, Fu Juncheng’s hands went to untie the bandage wrapped around Xu Yaozhou’s waist while his gaze seemed nailed to Xu Yaozhou’s sharp, distinct spine.
Not daring to glance around randomly, his ears grew hotter and hotter.
When he finally snapped back to his senses, he felt a bit perplexed.
Xu Yaozhou was not even acting shy, what on earth was he blushing for?
Fu Juncheng had entered the entertainment industry to hustle early on in his past life, becoming famous at a young age with a constant stream of schedules. Although he had filmed quite a few dramas, his romantic experience was a complete blank, not because his agency demanded it, but because he simply could not muster any interest. Even the company boss who watched him grow up used to tease him, laughing at him as an emotionless assassin.
It was truly rare to experience a moment like this.
How strange.
His Adam’s apple rolled slightly as he forced his voice to sound less guilty. “Bear with it a little.”
Before long, a light, drifting affirmation floated to his ear.
Fu Juncheng accelerated his hand movements.
The next moment, he froze abruptly, his expression changing behind Xu Yaozhou’s back.
The skin previously enveloped by the gauze was displayed before his eyes in an instant.
He saw that a few inches up from Xu Yaozhou’s waist, although the wound could not be considered deep, it formed a stark contrast against that vast expanse of fairness. Unhealed pain seeped out with fresh, crimson blood, a bloody mess that even Fu Juncheng found unbearable to look at.
Fu Juncheng could not help but frown, softening his voice considerably. “How did you get this?”
Why did the protagonist Shou suffer such a huge grievance without half a word mentioned in the book?
Could it be that transmigration came with hidden plots?
Xu Yaozhou lowered his head slightly, seeming unwilling to dwell too much on the cause of his injury, and replied in a light voice, “I accidentally fell.”
Before his voice faded, whether due to the pain or not, a slight tremor laced his words.
Just how does one fall to end up like this?
Hearing this, Fu Juncheng felt his heart melt.
What kind of peerless, pitiful little darling was this?
Because of this, Fu Juncheng grew increasingly disdainful of his own inappropriate, fleeting thoughts from earlier, and the movements of his hands unconsciously grew lighter.
Once he finished treating the wound, Fu Juncheng suddenly felt a certain mountain-like weight of paternal love.
This child actually had it hard too.
After disinfecting and applying medicine for Xu Yaozhou, feeling the other person grit his teeth and tremble in silence while enduring the pain, Fu Juncheng sighed. The sense of intolerance in his heart grew even stronger, acting precisely like an old father worrying about his cub’s future.
He used his hand to pinch the two ends of the gauze, virtually looping it around Xu Yaozhou’s body from behind to wrap it several times, bandaging with extreme care while nagging away, “If it really comes to it, you should still go see a doctor. What if it gets infected?”
Xu Yaozhou did not reply. Fu Juncheng thought for a moment and added, “At the very least, next time you should find someone reliable to help you change your dressing.”
If he remembered correctly, scum like Wu Jin and Xie Chen were a dime a dozen in this book. It was very dangerous, alright!
Fu Juncheng felt that as the pitiful protagonist Shou, Xu Yaozhou ought to know that human hearts could be vicious.
Do not just casually grab anyone and strip in front of them.
Thinking this, the words had already slipped out. “What if you ran into some pervert? You would be done for.”
Xu Yaozhou did not turn back, unsure of which exact word had struck his funny bone, as a muffled, ambiguous laugh escaped lightly from his throat. “Is that so?”
“It is just changing a bandage. What could they possibly plot against me for?”
“Your body.”
“…”
Fu Juncheng spoke out in a rush of indignation. Once the words left his mouth, he wondered whether they sounded inappropriate.
After all, it was their first meeting. Would it not seem too frivolous?
Suddenly, he saw Xu Yaozhou turn his head, his lowered peach blossom eyes darting a glance toward him.
That gentle, limpid gaze swept gracefully from the corner of his eye, as if he had been amused, carrying a heavy layer of amusement. “And what about big brother?”
Fu Juncheng: “?”
Xu Yaozhou’s lips curved into a shallow arc, his tone sounding like banter. “Are you plotting against my body too?”
Fu Juncheng: “…”