“Mobile payment received: three thousand yuan!”
The proprietress’s cheerful expression froze, and the hand brushing sauce onto the skewers involuntarily slowed down.
How much?
Three thousand yuan!
Not only the proprietress, but all the customers present were stunned, turning their gazes in unison toward Gu Qingze, who was dressed in a sharp suit.
The proprietress’s hands trembled slightly as she looked at Gu Qingze and hurriedly asked, “Handsome, did you press two, or, ah, pfft, three extra zeros by mistake?”
Gu Qingze’s gaze remained detached. “No. Consider the extra amount a gift for you.”
With that, he grabbed A-Xing and turned to leave.
The proprietress quickly called out, “Wait a moment, handsome! I will give you something as well.”
Flustered, the proprietress immediately packed up all the freshly grilled meat from the grill with lightning speed, rushed past the crowd, and shoved the bags into A-Xing’s hands.
A-Xing was bewildered by the situation, holding three large bags of barbecue as he looked toward Gu Qingze.
Seeing this, the proprietress immediately chimed in, “May the two of you live a wonderfully happy life, achieve eternal harmony, have early, ah, pfft, grow old together side by side, stay completely healthy, make a fortune, and find every bite delicious! May your bodies be robust, tough as nails, and full of happiness!”
The proprietress rattled off a whole string of blessings in one breath, her smile never fading. She roughly guessed that the young man before her was not short on money, and saying a few more pleasant things was definitely the right move.
Gu Qingze’s expression remained cold and indifferent on the surface, but internally, he was already wildly refuting the proprietress’s words.
He is so young, yet his eyes are failing him; where on earth did she see that the two of us are a couple?
Unwilling to say anything more, Gu Qingze strode forward.
A-Xing hurriedly thanked the proprietress and quickly followed behind him.
From a distance, A-Xing heard a hearty laugh echo behind them: “Wishing you a hundred years of harmony!”
A-Xing quickened his pace, a soft flush naturally rising across his cheeks.
“Lord,” A-Xing called out as he hurried to Gu Qingze’s side and climbed into the sleek black sedan.
A-Xing held out the bag of barbecue toward Gu Qingze. “Lord, this smells so good. Would you like to taste some?”
Junk food at first glance, absolutely not!
With a cold and detached expression, Gu Qingze replied, “I will not eat any. Fasten your seatbelt properly.”
Hearing this, A-Xing observed the strap across Gu Qingze’s chest, then clumsily fumbled with his own belt, tinkering with it for a good while until he finally managed to buckle it.
The car started and gradually drove away from the bustling, noisy area.
A-Xing watched the passing scenery outside while his nose was thoroughly hijacked by the aroma of the barbecue in his hands. It smelled so good that he could not resist pulling out two skewers to eat first.
The rich flavor bloomed across his taste buds. A-Xing squinted his eyes in satisfaction, eating one skewer after another. Delicious!
As Gu Qingze drove, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward A-Xing.
This stuff must be poisonous; how can it possibly smell this good?
President Gu admitted that he was a bit tempted. Of course, it was strictly his stomach that was tempted.
Reciting a mental mantra to purify his heart, Gu Qingze suppressed the urge to indulge as the villa district finally came into view.
With a cold tone, he announced, “We have arrived. Get out of the car.”
This was also President Gu’s first time acting as someone’s chauffeur. Watching A-Xing eat with sauce all over his mouth and squinting his eyes in blissful comfort, he made a heavy mental note against him.
After stepping out of the car, A-Xing noticed Gu Qingze staring straight at him. His eyes curved into crescent moons, assuming Gu Qingze wanted a bite, so he stepped forward and held a skewer right up to Gu Qingze’s lips.
“This really tastes amazing, Lord! Have a taste!”
Gu Qingze’s brow and gaze remained aloof, but his psychological defenses were actually in full retreat.
Since he went out of his way to put it right beside my lips, taking a reluctant bite won’t hurt. Otherwise, someone is going to start crying again soon. After searching for all sorts of excuses, President Gu stubbornly refused to blame himself for any of it.
After convincing himself internally, President Gu took a very elegant and restrained bite.
The meat had cooled down somewhat, but he had to admit the taste was truly excellent.
Gu Qingze very gracefully took the skewer from A-Xing’s hand, chewing slowly and swallowing every last bite.
Not bad. Delicious.
Yet throughout this entire process, Gu Qingze kept his expression completely expressionless.
Perhaps accustomed to Gu Qingze’s cold facade, A-Xing looked closer and managed to detect a subtle shift in Gu Qingze’s expression, accurately deducing that the Lord was currently in a very pleasant mood.
If the Lord was happy, he was happy too. A-Xing smiled, his crescent eyes and pale purple irises filled entirely with the man standing right before him.
Just as Gu Qingze swallowed the final bite and raised his eyes, he was greeted by this exact scene.
The visual impact hit him a bit too hard. Gu Qingze turned on his heel and walked away without pausing for even a second.
Good grief, is this a sprite sent from the heavens? President Gu, who had been single for twenty-eight years, felt his heart flutter nervously. He needed a moment to calm down.
A-Xing’s smile froze in place, a trace of confusion flashing deep within his eyes.
What is wrong with the Lord?
In the dead of night, Gu Qingze stared blankly as he gave himself a slap to the face.
Everything was fine, so why on earth did this damn mouth have to crave food? Look at this now; food poisoning and diarrhea.
Gu Qingze gazed at the ceiling of the bathroom with a lifeless expression. Just as he caught a brief moment of relief, another wave of cramps gripped his stomach.
President Gu’s complexion turned somewhat pale. With trembling hands, he dialed his personal doctor’s phone number.
Every romance novel featured a CEO accompanied by a standard-issue doctor friend, though that doctor usually arrived in the middle of the night because the female lead fell ill and the male lead summoned them.
He was different. Gu Qingze was now a fragile, delicate CEO, a CEO who had been dehydrated down to his bones by a single skewer of street barbecue!
Gu Qingze made another fierce mental note against A-Xing in his ledger. This was the second offense.
He decided he needed to carry a little notebook specifically to document A-Xing’s wicked deeds.
The moment the intravenous glucose drip was hooked up, Gu Qingze’s eyes had already gone somewhat numb.
He cast a chilly gaze toward A-Xing. “You, get out.”
Upon hearing those words, A-Xing’s face instantly paled, his eye rims growing slightly red as he lowered his head and whispered, “I am sorry, Lord. It is all my fault, but… could A-Xing stay here to take care of you first? Once you are better, I will leave.”
Seeing this reaction, Gu Qingze pressed his lips together, pulled back his gaze, and muttered, “…As you wish.”
Hearing that, the previously dim lights in A-Xing’s pupils slowly brightened once again.
Shang Yu walked into the room holding a medical report and respectfully reported, “President Gu, you really should eat street food less often, or rather, not at all. Your stomach is extremely weak, and you can only consume clean, hygienic foods entirely prepared according to a nutritionist’s plan.”
Indeed, out of ten CEOs, nine had stomach ulcers, eight had disabilities, seven were allergic to the female lead, six suffered from insomnia, five were paranoid, four harbored secrets, three were jealous monsters, two pretended to be cool while panicking inside, and the last one was flawless except for harboring a white moonlight in his heart.
As luck would have it, Gu Qingze happened to have a chronic stomach condition.
Today, he had gotten carried away by temptation and momentarily forgotten that his stomach was compromised.
“Mhm,” Gu Qingze replied expressionlessly.
Once the IV bag finished dripping, Shang Yu took his leave.
The room fell into a quiet stillness. Gu Qingze had already drifted off to sleep; the day’s events had exhausted him thoroughly, and he fell asleep shortly after the drip was attached.
A-Xing tinkered with the wall controls for a long time before figuring out how to turn off the overhead lights, leaving only a tiny nightlight glowing softly by the bedside.
A-Xing knelt beside the bed, quietly watching Gu Qingze’s sleeping face. His light purple eyes hid a gentle, starry sparkle. My Lord is truly wonderful. He is completely different from the terrifying males the other bugs described in the past.
So thought A-Xing to himself.