Song Chengfeng said it casually, and Fu Chen’s expression darkened, telling him not to speak nonsense.
Song Chengfeng just smiled, finding this deflated look on Fu Chen’s face quite amusing.
The three of them found a private room. Song Chengfeng chalked up his cue stick, glanced at Wen Yu sitting to the side, and asked, “Since you’re already here, do you want to join us?”
“No, thank you,” Wen Yu said plainly, pulling out a test paper to start grinding problems. His focused demeanor remained completely unaffected by them.
Ji Chen was playing with a distracted mind, his peripheral vision constantly drifting toward Wen Yu, causing him to miss several shots. Fu Chen, whose mind was entirely focused on the billiards table, clicked his tongue and asked Ji Chen if his hand was having spasms today.
Ji Chen didn’t want to lose face in front of Wen Yu, so he subconsciously glanced at Wen Yu, only to find that Wen Yu hadn’t looked over at their side even once, his eyes entirely glued to the test paper.
He felt relieved that Wen Yu hadn’t seen his embarrassing missed shots, but he also felt somewhat disappointed by Wen Yu’s utter indifference.
Although Ji Chen only glanced at Wen Yu briefly, Song Chengfeng still caught that look. A meaningful gaze danced between the two of them as he began to understand what was going on.
For the next few rounds of the game, Ji Chen adjusted his state and finally avoided making such obvious mistakes as he had at the start.
During this time, a few Omegas specifically came to deliver water to them. After delivering the water, they even produced handkerchiefs, offering to wipe away their sweat.
Fu Chen frowned and looked at Song Chengfeng. He could guess who had arranged this even with his toes.
Song Chengfeng simply raised an eyebrow back at him.
Fu Chen glanced at the sweet and charming Omega before him. The Omega looked at him with eyes brimming with tenderness, resembling a pool of spring water. He handed the Omega a generous amount of tip money and took the handkerchief from the Omega’s hand, saying, “Alright, you can go down now.”
Upon seeing the tip, the Omega was overjoyed. It had been a long time since they had encountered a guest who spent money so generously.
Ji Chen similarly tipped his Omega and dismissed them.
“What is wrong with the two of you?” Song Chengfeng feigned annoyance. “Showing this little face?”
“I can understand if Fu Chen’s family member is watching right by his side. Ji Chen, you were never like this before. What kind of innocent high school boy act are you putting on?”
“What are you talking about! When was I ever like that? I’ve always been a pure Alpha!” Ji Chen protested.
Song Chengfeng watched as Ji Chen cast a flustered glance at Wen Yu, every bit of his hidden feelings written plainly across his face.
“Exchange these Omegas for a different one and you two probably wouldn’t act like this,” Song Chengfeng hinted with a mischievous smile. “It must be because the Omega who just came by wasn’t pretty enough to catch Young Master Fu and Young Master Ji’s eyes.”
“I see someone quite striking right here in this private room. If he were the one wiping your sweat, the two of you would probably be thrilled to death.”
There was only one Omega in this private room, so whom Song Chengfeng was referring to went without saying.
Wen Yu was in the middle of solving a rather difficult problem and was deeply immersed in thought, paying no attention to what they were discussing. However, perhaps the sensation of three gazes converging on him simultaneously was simply too intense, causing Wen Yu to raise his head and look at them.
“Is something the matter?” Wen Yu asked.
“Fu Chen got warmed up playing billiards and wants you to wipe his sweat,” Song Chengfeng said with a smile.
“Oh, sure.” Wen Yu didn’t think much of it. He pulled out two sheets of tissue paper from the box on the table and walked right over to Fu Chen.
“You’re too tall. Lower your head a bit.” Wen Yu looked up at Fu Chen from a slight angle, his sharp black-and-white eyes staring straight at him. As he blinked, the red mole flashed across Fu Chen’s field of vision.
Fu Chen looked at Wen Yu with the expression one might reserve for a mentally disabled person. Did this guy think he looked adorable right now? Staring with wide eyes and deliberately blinking to expose that red mole, fully aware of how seductive that single mark was, right? Telling him to lower his head as well, was he trying to manufacture some casual sense of cuteness? Did he think he was filming an idol drama?
Fu Chen looked at him coldly and then genuinely cooperated by lowering his head. Wen Yu used the tissue to wipe Fu Chen’s forehead bit by bit. Because they were standing so close, even though Wen Yu wore a scent-blocking patch, Fu Chen could still catch wisps of a faint, lingering ylang-ylang fragrance weaving around the tip of his nose.
Watching from the side, Song Chengfeng felt the scene possessed the cozy vibe of an old married couple. Ji Chen couldn’t quite identify his own emotions as he watched this unfold, feeling only a complex mixture of feelings churning inside his chest.
Wen Yu wiped Fu Chen’s sweat very earnestly. Deciding it was about enough, he told Fu Chen, “All done.”
Wen Yu turned around intending to head back and continue grinding problems, but Fu Chen suddenly called out to him.
“Stop right there,” Fu Chen said.
Wen Yu halted his steps and turned around to look at him.
Fu Chen pulled a stack of banknotes from his wallet and handed them to Wen Yu, saying, “Your tip.”
Wen Yu looked at Fu Chen calmly, failing to understand what he meant. Perhaps this country bumpkin was simply unfamiliar with the rules of these wealthy individuals; when the Omega had come in earlier, Wen Yu seemed to have heard the word “tip,” which apparently carried the implication that refusing it meant looking down on them.
Wen Yu reached out to take the money, but Fu Chen’s hand released without warning. The banknotes fluttered down, scattering messily and spreading out all around Wen Yu’s feet.
“Oops, my hand slipped,” Fu Chen didn’t even bother pretending to act anymore, saying expressionlessly, “Pick them up yourself.”
Of course, Wen Yu perceived this direct and naked humiliation, but he had long since grown desensitized to this level of contempt. Back at the Zhou family estate, plays like this were staged every few days; the Zhou family servants, with Shen Yazhi’s tacit approval, were far more vicious than Fu Chen, and the money they scattered wasn’t even as much as Fu Chen’s, while still trying to put on airs of a big spender, at least Fu Chen was a genuine wealthy heir.
Wen Yu figured that since Fu Chen hated him so much, the most severe method of humiliation he could conjure was to pelt him with cash, which made him think that the world Fu Chen lived in was truly pure and wonderful.
By Wen Yu’s visual estimate, there was at least five or six thousand on the floor.
Wen Yu exchanged a calm, momentary gaze with Fu Chen, and then actually squatted down to begin picking up the scattered banknotes from the floor. Ji Chen even stepped forward to help gather them, but Fu Chen warned him, “Ji Chen, you’ve about reached your limit.”
Ji Chen turned a deaf ear, handing a stack of the recovered paper currency to Wen Yu. Wen Yu gave him a look, said a quiet “Thank you,” and then tapped all the bills upright against the table to neaten them up.
Wen Yu placed the money into his school bag and went right back to drilling his practice problems.
His expression hadn’t changed by even a fraction the entire time. Fu Chen felt like he had punched a pile of cotton, and looking at Wen Yu only made him feel even more irritated.
The atmosphere grew somewhat tense, and Song Chengfeng attempted to smooth things over with a laugh. “Ah, an Omega from one’s own household really is the most considerate.”
When they finished playing billiards, it was already quite late, and Song Chengfeng’s older cousin invited the three of them upstairs for drinks.
“Good student, do you want to come along?” Song Chengfeng didn’t forget to ask Wen Yu.
Naturally, Wen Yu’s answer was to refuse, and he said, “I’ll just wait right here for Fu Chen.”
Fu Chen let out a cold snort and marched out of the private room first. Ji Chen told Wen Yu that if he got hungry, he could call a service attendant since meals were provided here, and he could simply charge it to his name.
Wen Yu nodded. After all three of them had departed, Wen Yu retrieved a bread roll from his school bag, which was what he had originally prepared for tomorrow’s lunch.
Wen Yu munched on his bread while grinding through problems. By the time he finished an entire set of test papers, Fu Chen and the others still hadn’t come back down.
Wen Yu checked the time; it was already approaching midnight. Although tomorrow was the weekend, Wen Yu felt it was getting a bit too late. He packed up his school bag and went upstairs to look for Fu Chen, only to find Fu Chen being half-carried down by the shoulders.
Ji Chen and Song Chengfeng also looked like they had consumed a fair amount of alcohol. Ji Chen and Fu Chen shared a uniform, synchronized state of drunkenness, while only Song Chengfeng retained a relatively clear expression, as he was presumably the one with the highest alcohol tolerance among the three.
“Fu Chen drank too much, so I’ll have to trouble you to take him back. The driver is outside,” Song Chengfeng said with a smile to Wen Yu. He was still supporting Ji Chen with one hand, while Ji Chen clung to him, muttering incoherently about something.
“Okay,” Wen Yu answered. He took over supporting Fu Chen. The Alpha possessed a tall frame and a heavy build, throwing his full weight onto Wen Yu. Wen Yu managed with some difficulty to hook Fu Chen’s arm over his own shoulder and escort him to the car.
Inside the vehicle, a drunken Fu Chen continued to ramble uncooperatively about cheering. Wen Yu balled up his fist to clink glasses with him, which delighted Fu Chen. Grabbing Wen Yu’s hand, Fu Chen insisted they drink a cup of cross-armed wine, pressing his lips directly against the back of Wen Yu’s hand as if treating it like a wine goblet.
“Blech!” Fu Chen frowned. “Why is this wine so salty!”
“If it doesn’t taste good, don’t drink it,” Wen Yu said.
However, Fu Chen grew rather indignant. “Drinking is all about having a good time! Hey, bring out the best wine you’ve got here! Tonight, Young Master Fu is paying for the whole house!”
Wen Yu picked up the bottle of water the driver had provided when they got in and handed it to Fu Chen, saying, “Young Master Fu, this is the finest wine we have here.”
Fu Chen grabbed the water and chugged it aggressively. After finishing, he smacked his lips in contemplation. “This wine tastes a bit sweet. Actually, not bad.”
Wen Yu glanced at the Nongfu Spring bottle in Fu Chen’s hand, then continued calmly. “Normal. After all, this is Nongfu Spring.”
Fu Chen was amused. He fished out his wallet and shoved a wad of cash directly into Wen Yu’s hand. “Good wine selection. Take it, a reward for you!”
Wen Yu’s eyelid twitched slightly. Looking at those thousand-dollar bills, the sum roughly equaled his entire semester’s tuition from the past. Wen Yu gathered the money and stored it alongside the stack Fu Chen had given him earlier.
Alcohol truly was a magical substance. In his everyday life, Fu Chen wasn’t a particularly talkative person, but an intoxicated Fu Chen was the polar opposite, not only was his speech dense and rapid, but his train of thought jumped erratically.
For instance, one second he was shouting cheers and bottoms up, the next second he was declaring that he was going to fly a giant airplane, and the second after that he was whimpering that he missed his mother so much.
Hearing that final sentence, Wen Yu’s heart felt as though it had been struck squarely by something heavy.
That last phrase was something he used to repeat constantly inside his heart when he was little. As he grew a bit older, Wen Yu rarely thought about those things anymore.
Survival was a terribly difficult endeavor. During his days at the Zhou family residence, every single day had been arduous and exhausting. Most of the time, the moment his head hit the pillow he would fall straight into sleep. On rare occasions when sleeplessness kept him awake in the dead of night, Wen Yu would think of his mother, though only a blurred shadow remained in his mind. The bad memories from back then all seemed to have faded; in truth, Wen Xiaohui had been good to him at times as well.
Every day watching Shen Wanjun, the woman Fu Chengzhe had picked up from somewhere, sleep in the bed his own mother used to occupy. Even though Shen Yuqing wasn’t often at home, the very thought of his existence represented Fu Chengzhe’s betrayal of his own mother.
Lin Yiyun hadn’t conceived until the third year of her marriage to Fu Chengzhe, whereas Shen Yuqing was more than a year older than him. Fu Chengzhe hadn’t even waited for the seven-year itch, as he had strayed outside the marriage in the very first year.
A heavy weight descended upon Wen Yu’s shoulder as Fu Chen leaned against him. Looking down, Wen Yu caught a glimpse of something flashing through Fu Chen’s eyes.
Wen Yu gently placed his hand over Fu Chen’s eyelid, wishing to wipe away that trace of moisture, but Fu Chen suddenly snapped his eyes open to stare right at him.
Gazing into each other’s eyes, Wen Yu said, “If I told you my hand slipped, would you believe me?”