Sunday.
Lin Yue Shu woke up groggily, his vision shrouded in darkness. He glanced out the window, where the gloomy sky pressed down heavily, and cold air eagerly seeped through the gaps in the window panes.
He yawned, listening to the sound of the housekeeper greeting someone in the hallway: “Good morning, Mr. Shao. Are you going out today?”
“Yes, I have a tech exhibition to attend,” came Shao Cheng Yan’s voice.
Lin Yue Shu yawned again and got out of bed to wash up. These days, living at Shao Cheng Yan’s place, he mostly stayed in his room, which was just as well since Shao Cheng Yan often flew around the country, and they rarely crossed paths. That was for the best, as seeing him would only make his eyes sore.
Lin Yue Shu opened the original owner’s wardrobe and rummaged through it. It was quite pitiful; it was already late autumn, yet the original owner didn’t even have a single warm piece of clothing. Then again, it made sense; the original owner didn’t seem to need clothes much.
After some picking and choosing, Lin Yue Shu finally settled on the thinnest shirt among a row of somewhat warm sweaters. Before leaving, he sent a message to Huo Yi Sen: [Representative Huo, I’m heading out. See you in a bit.]
As expected, Huo Yi Sen didn’t reply. Lin Yue Shu put on a baseball cap and a mask, but then thought it didn’t really matter for him now, so he boldly walked out with his face uncovered.
He had arranged to meet Huo Yi Sen at a large local shopping mall. Standing there, he was dumbfounded. The passersby all looked so similar, like characters in an anime where changing clothes and hair color could produce 800 new characters overnight. Was it really like this, or was his face blindness getting worse? Hard to say.
A thought popped into Lin Yue Shu’s mind: At this rate, would he end up thanking Huo Yi Sen for his contributions even if someone else scolded him?
Just as he was lost in thought, Lin Yue Shu suddenly felt a cool sensation on his face. He wiped it with his hand—it was water. Looking down, he saw a boy, about seven or eight years old, holding a water gun and yelling.
The boy’s mother followed behind, laughing: “Slow down, baby, don’t fall.”
A passerby who was also hit by the water couldn’t help but say, “Do you have any manners? There are so many people here, and you’re spraying water everywhere.”
The boy’s mother rolled her eyes and sharply retorted, “Do you have any manners? You’re an adult arguing with a child.”
The passerby didn’t want to provoke her and chose to retreat, following the principle of avoiding trouble. With a parent backing him up, the bratty child became even more unruly, circling around Lin Yue Shu and deliberately spraying water on his thin clothes.
Lin Yue Shu brushed off his damp shirt, not wanting to argue with a child, and took a few steps forward. But the bratty child wouldn’t let it go, chasing after him and spraying water on his pants, giggling. The mother didn’t care, busy on her phone.
Lin Yue Shu took a deep breath, about to scold the child, when he caught sight of a silver-blue car out of the corner of his eye. He recognized it—it was a Purosangue global limited edition, worth about twenty million, standing out among a row of Volkswagens and BYDs.
The words of scolding that were about to leave Lin Yue Shu’s mouth were swallowed back. He changed his demeanor, a gentle smile appearing on his face. He crouched down to meet the bratty child’s eyes and said with a smile, “Do you know about the Water-Splashing Festival?”
“I don’t know, I want to shoot you!” the bratty child yelled, waving the water gun.
“The Water-Splashing Festival is a minority festival where splashing water on passersby is a way to bless them,” Lin Yue Shu said, patting the child’s head. “Do you want to bless your brother?”
The bratty child laughed, “Haha, you’re a fool!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a stream of water hit Lin Yue Shu’s face. In the late autumn season, the cold water on his face was quite refreshing.
Lin Yue Shu still smiled, lowering his voice, “You’re such a good boy, so great.”
With that, he stood up. The silver-blue Purosangue stopped in front of him. The car door opened, and a straight leg wrapped in suit pants stepped out, a shiny leather shoe pressing down on the ground, covering a patch of deep red.
Lin Yue Shu’s eyes lit up. Although he had face blindness, at least his sense of beauty was intact. Huo Yi Sen was easy to distinguish from ordinary people.
Huo Yi Sen, in a dark long coat, his indifferent and distant face matched the bleakness of late autumn perfectly.
Lin Yue Shu snapped back to reality, called out, “You’re here,” and then quickly lowered his head, using the sleeve of his thin shirt to wipe the cold water off his face, occasionally biting and chewing on the sleeve as it brushed past his mouth.
“Mom, look! There’s a fool here!” the bratty child shouted, waving the water gun, showing off his victory.
Huo Yi Sen glanced at the bratty child, then returned his gaze to Lin Yue Shu’s face. After a moment, he took a snow-white handkerchief from his coat pocket and handed it over.
Lin Yue Shu didn’t take it, just kept his head down, wiping his face with his soaked sleeve, making it wetter.
Huo Yi Sen let out a light sigh, raised the handkerchief, and gently wiped the water off Lin Yue Shu’s face, as if doing this for the first time, showing a bit of awkwardness.
“Getting bullied and just standing there,” Huo Yi Sen said coldly, frowning.
“I…” Lin Yue Shu looked up in panic, a bitter smile on his lips. “Arguing with a child would make people laugh.”
Just then, a wail came from behind them. They turned to see the bratty child from earlier being kicked five meters away by a scarred man, soaking wet.
The boy’s mother rushed over, pointing at the man and yelling, even trying to grab his head. The man didn’t hold back, kicking her five meters away as well.
The man wiped the water from his forehead and cursed, “Blessing?! I bless your damn ass!”
Passersby nodded in satisfaction: In these times, there are still good people around.
Huo Yi Sen withdrew his gaze, looking at the shivering Lin Yue Shu. After a long pause, as if after an internal struggle, he took off his coat and draped it over Lin Yue Shu, looking straight ahead, “Let’s go.”
Lin Yue Shu: “Th-thank you.”
He wrapped the coat tightly around himself, jogging to catch up. Then he quietly lifted the coat collar to his nose, taking a deep breath—
It smelled like the cold air of a clear winter day, the crispness of fir trees warmed by the sun, with a base note of ambergris and amber, deep like an ancient story.
Lin Yue Shu chuckled to himself. My warm bed tool, so good-looking, so fragrant, and so delicious.
The two of them entered the mall, walking along the path, drawing the attention of passersby. Although one was a washed-up celebrity and the other a reclusive financial prince, people couldn’t help but take a second look at a beautiful scene.
Huo Yi Sen, though unaware of Lin Yue Shu’s exact plans, continued walking ahead. Suddenly, he noticed the absence of footsteps behind him.
Turning back, he saw Lin Yue Shu stopped in front of a milk tea shop, curiously observing. Noticing Huo Yi Sen’s gaze, he smiled awkwardly and quickly jogged to catch up.
Huo Yi Sen, however, didn’t rush to leave. He took out a card and handed it to Lin Yue Shu, speaking concisely, “Go buy.”
“No need for you to spend money, I was just looking,” Lin Yue Shu quickly waved his hand.
Huo Yi Sen didn’t even glance at him, seemingly a bit impatient, yet said nothing, leaving them in a silent standoff.
After a while, Lin Yue Shu felt it was enough and cautiously took the card, asking, “What would you like to drink?”
“Nothing,” Huo Yi Sen had no interest in these things kids liked.
Lin Yue Shu nodded, took the card, and soon returned with two cups of milk tea, a barely concealed smile on his face.
“Representative Huo, Representative Huo,” he said lightly and cheerfully, holding up the two cups of milk tea. “It’s free, you know. The shop has a promotion today, and if you win a rock-paper-scissors game with the staff, you get two free cups of milk tea.”
Huo Yi Sen glanced at him indifferently, but the image of those crescent-shaped eyes was etched deeply in his mind.
“I didn’t know what flavor you liked, so I got the original,” Lin Yue Shu said, trying to hand one of the milk teas to Huo Yi Sen.
Huo Yi Sen avoided him, hands in his pockets, seemingly uninterested: “I said, I don’t drink.”
Lin Yue Shu withdrew his hand, holding the two cups of milk tea, lowering his head: “I’m sorry, I overstepped.”
Huo Yi Sen said nothing more, turning to continue walking. Lin Yue Shu followed, sipping his milk tea, internally complaining: Who even likes something this sweet?
“Representative Huo,” Lin Yue Shu suddenly called out.
Huo Yi Sen turned to see Lin Yue Shu standing at the entrance of a hot pot restaurant, pointing inside, seemingly not planning to leave.
Huo Yi Sen sighed heavily, bypassing Lin Yue Shu and entering the hot pot restaurant first. Given his status, saying “I don’t eat this common stuff” would be perfectly reasonable, but since they agreed that this day belonged to Lin Yue Shu, at least let him enjoy it, so he wouldn’t come bothering again.
They found a secluded corner in the hot pot restaurant. Lin Yue Shu took off the coat Huo Yi Sen had given him, carefully folding it and placing it aside.
Huo Yi Sen blinked. That coat shouldn’t be folded; it would wrinkle.
“Representative Huo, what would you like to eat?” Lin Yue Shu asked, scanning the menu.
“Just order what you want,” Huo Yi Sen really didn’t want to eat hot pot. He couldn’t understand who would like something so greasy and salty.
After ordering, while waiting for the food, they both looked elsewhere, as if speaking would cost extra.
Unexpectedly, it was Huo Yi Sen who broke the silence first. He noticed the two cups of milk tea in front of Lin Yue Shu, one empty, the other untouched since they entered.
“Why aren’t you drinking?” he asked.
Lin Yue Shu fiddled with the milk tea cup, smiling awkwardly: “Milk tea has a lot of sugar. I ordered two large cups, and now… my blood sugar feels a bit off…”
“Throw it away,” Huo Yi Sen commanded.
Lin Yue Shu hesitated, his fingers picking at the milk tea cup: “Throwing it away would be wasteful.”
Then he added, “I’ll take it back and… drink it later.”
Simple words, yet they revealed a reluctant persistence. He added again, “I will drink it, really…”
The more Lin Yue Shu spoke, the quieter his voice became, a hint of grievance creeping in. It was as if he was complaining—if you don’t drink it, I’ll have to deal with it with insulin.
Huo Yi Sen raised his hand, gently rubbing his brow. Then, he reached over, took the milk tea, and drank it directly.
Lin Yue Shu’s eyes widened slowly. The joy inside him bloomed like a flower, becoming the most brilliant scenery.
He recalled the previous times in bed when he longed for Huo Yi Sen’s affectionate kisses, only to be sternly rejected with “know your place.”
Now, biting the straw I bit, isn’t that an indirect kiss?
Lin Yue Shu tightly clutched his clothes, trying to suppress the sudden warmth and tingling in his abdomen. He wanted to suck. Not the straw.
…
Lin Yue Shu could tell that Huo Yi Sen really didn’t like hot pot. Out of courtesy, he might have tasted a few bites of beef, but his refined palate couldn’t handle synthetic meat, so he put down his chopsticks, browsing his phone, checking stocks.
Meanwhile, Lin Yue Shu was thoroughly enjoying his meal. Before entering the book, he had to maintain his figure, basically eating greens all year round. Even at birthday parties, when fans bought luxurious cakes, he would only take a couple of bites for a photo, quickly stopped by his manager.
He quite liked hot pot. As a child, he looked forward to eating hot pot with his adoptive parents and brother, savoring not just the taste but the warm atmosphere.
“Excuse me, sir,” a server suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Looking over, he saw the server holding several Snoopy keychains.
“Our store is having a promotion. If you take a photo and leave a review of over thirty words on Dianping, you can get a Snoopy keychain.”
Lin Yue Shu took out his phone, opening the camera, and asked, “Should I take a picture of the hot pot or…?”
“One of the guests, with our hot pot in the photo, requires a real person in the shot,” the server explained.
Lin Yue Shu raised his phone, trying to fit himself and the hot pot in the frame: “I can really get a Snoopy keychain, right?”
“Of course, we run a business with integrity,” the server smiled.
“No need,” a cold voice interrupted.
Lin Yue Shu’s finger hovered above the photo button. They both looked over to see Huo Yi Sen still focused on his phone, his brows slightly furrowed, seemingly displeased with the server’s interruption.
Lin Yue Shu slowly lowered his phone, bowing his head. The server awkwardly smiled, “Sorry for disturbing you two, enjoy your meal.”
Lin Yue Shu’s gaze followed the departing Snoopy keychains, swaying back and forth. He didn’t ask why, because fundamentally, he wasn’t in a position to question.
After that, neither of them spoke again, surrounded by the lively hot pot atmosphere, yet feeling worlds apart.
“Mommy, mommy!” A child’s joyful voice caught Lin Yue Shu’s attention. At the next table, a little girl excitedly tugged her mother’s hand, pointing at the Snoopy keychains in the server’s hand, torn between choices: “Mommy, I like this pink Snoopy, and I like this blue one too, what should I do?”
The girl’s father gently patted her head, coaxing, “Daddy will take a photo too, we’ll leave two reviews, and you can ask the lady if you can have two Snoopy keychains.”
Lin Yue Shu stared blankly at the harmonious family, the beef hanging on his chopsticks growing cold and hard, yet he didn’t eat it.
Until the sound of Huo Yi Sen putting down his phone brought him back to reality, and he hastily stuffed the cold beef into his mouth. It was cold and greasy.
The silent hot pot session ended, and Lin Yue Shu got up to pay, but Huo Yi Sen stopped him: “No need, it’ll be deducted from my card.”
Lin Yue Shu was puzzled. Someone who never eats hot pot has a membership card?
It wasn’t until the belated store owner came over with a bottle of good wine to greet them that he realized: The owner of the entire mall was Huo Yi Sen. When the mall was first built, to encourage the stores, he got a membership at each one, whether he visited or not.
Lin Yue Shu gritted his teeth. He hated rich people, even though he used to be rich too, and he hated his past self along with it.
As they left, Lin Yue Shu turned back for one last look at the Snoopy keychains in the server’s hand.
They entered the elevator to go downstairs, and Lin Yue Shu, rubbing his full belly, remarked that he had eaten too much.
Suddenly, there was a “ding” sound. He looked up to see a pink Snoopy keychain swaying with a bell.
Lin Yue Shu couldn’t help but widen his eyes, his eyelashes trembling. He followed the keychain up to the arm wrapped in a black shirt and the seemingly indifferent face looking ahead.
“How… how do you have…” he murmured, lost in thought.
Huo Yi Sen didn’t answer, placing the keychain in his hand and putting his hands in his pockets.
Lin Yue Shu held the keychain for a long time, his brows relaxing, a smile curling his lips: “Thank you.”
Exiting the elevator, Huo Yi Sen walked behind Lin Yue Shu, pulling out his phone and opening the photo album. On the screen was a steaming hot pot, with Lin Yue Shu’s face blurred by the steam, yet it was clear he was staring blankly at the lively family of three next door.
Huo Yi Sen clicked the delete button, his finger swiftly pressing down.
Outside the mall, Huo Yi Sen asked, “What’s next?”
Lin Yue Shu, holding the neatly folded coat, after a long pause, handed it back to Huo Yi Sen, his smile carrying a hint of relief: “It’s getting late, and you’re quite busy, Representative Huo. You should head back.”
“Thank you for having a meal with me today and for the Snoopy keychain,” Lin Yue Shu bowed deeply. “Goodbye.”
He straightened up, smiling: “Ah, not goodbye.”
Huo Yi Sen took the coat, got into the car without looking back.
Author’s Note: