EOD Chapter16

It was clearly a perfectly normal hot pot meal, yet it left Zhou Zefeng feeling restless and distracted.

Lu Zhao sat right across from him with the tips of his chopsticks holding a slice of fatty beef as he swished it around the pot. To prevent the hot pot’s steam from fogging up his glasses, Lu Zhao had switched to contact lenses and wore a camel-colored cardigan sweater. He looked almost the same age as Zhou Zefeng; and precisely because of this, much of the usual sense of distance was gone, sparking some fanciful, romantic thoughts in Zhou Zefeng’s mind.

A month ago, at this very dining table and at this very time, Lu Zhao had also sat across from him, but that time was vastly different from this one.

Zhou Zefeng subconsciously glanced down. Both Lu Zhao’s and Zhou Zefeng’s feet were behaving perfectly under the table, minding their own business.

Zhou Zefeng felt that if Lu Zhao were to stretch his foot over now to rub against his calf, he certainly wouldn’t react the way he did last time; instead, he would grab that warm, smooth foot and place it right on his private part.

Unfortunately, the heavens do not always grant human wishes. While eating his meat, he occasionally stole glances at Lu Zhao, but the other party was completely focused on devouring his food, entirely blind to Zhou Zefeng’s burning gaze.

Zhou Zefeng’s heart itched as if scratched by a hundred claws, and his whole body was restless with agitation. In his mind, he arrived at a series of absurd conclusions: for example, a twenty-year-old man who abstains from pleasuring for more than ten days does not suddenly reach enlightenment or achieve perfect celibacy; instead, the pent-up semen surges straight to his brain, causing a fatal blood vessel to burst.

By the time Zhou Zefeng snapped out of it, his foot had already touched Lu Zhao’s ankle. Lu Zhao finally shifted his attention from the meat slices over to Zhou Zefeng. Before he could even display a puzzled expression, Zhou Zefeng gave him a light kick.

Lu Zhao: ???

“Uh, does Xuebing need to be walked tonight?”

Zhou Zefeng hastily found himself an excuse to cover up his bizarre behavior just now.

“I walked him this morning.” Lu Zhao shot him a displeased look. “Can’t you speak? Did you absolutely have to use your foot to kick me?”

Hearing this, Zhou Zefeng breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it had been brushed over. Instead of bickering with Lu Zhao, he even scooped an oyster out of the pot, placed it in Lu Zhao’s bowl, and said with a grin, “Don’t be mad, my bad.”

An oyster? Is it an aphrodisiac?

Zhou Zefeng’s casual scoop made Lu Zhao’s face turn even darker.

In reality, it wasn’t that Lu Zhao hadn’t noticed Zhou Zefeng’s restlessness at the dinner table; ignoring him was simply one of Lu Zhao’s tactics; only by holding back long enough can the meal taste truly delicious later. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was whether it was a good thing for Zhou Zefeng to be going into heat at the drop of a hat like this. He wasn’t as young as he used to be; what if his body couldn’t handle it?

Since Zhou Zefeng was still dropping such obvious hints, Lu Zhao leisurely chewed on an oyster smothered in chili sauce and minced garlic, already plotting when he should make Zhou Zefeng experience the same treatment himself.

The two of them finished this Mid-Autumn Festival hot pot with each harboring their own secret agenda. Just as they finished cleaning up and putting the dishes into the dishwasher, Zhou Zefeng saw Xuebing trot over with his leash in his mouth, squatting obediently by the door and gazing at him with an expectant look.

Zhou Zefeng’s heart softened. He patted Xuebing on the head and said to Lu Zhao with excitement, “He wants to go out and play.”

Watching the clingy, enthusiastic man and dog, Lu Zhao silently put back the control-and-projection tools he had just taken out.

/

The residential complex was quite lively on this Mid-Autumn night. Usually, it was mostly elderly people out for a stroll and children running around, but tonight, there were many families in the garden, moving chairs onto the grass to enjoy the moon.

Lu Zhao followed at a comfortable distance behind Zhou Zefeng, who was holding the leash. The two walked in silence until Xuebing led them to his “secret base”—a secluded path in the woods. Lu Zhao was often brought here when he walked Xuebing himself; the dog loved to romp around in the woods. Fortunately, the complex was large, and this area was rarely visited, so Lu Zhao kept a close eye on him, not worried about him biting anyone.

A cool evening breeze rustled through the lush trees. This small path, hidden beside the main road, possessed a rare sense of quiet and peace in the city. Under the dim light of a streetlamp sat a clean bench. Lu Zhao walked over and sat down, acting familiar with the spot. Zhou Zefeng watched Xuebing for a moment, confirmed he was staying nearby, and walked over to sit beside Lu Zhao.

They sat at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, yet Zhou Zefeng could still catch the faint, clean scent on Lu Zhao. He found himself thinking, rather irrelevantly, that it was fortunate they had changed clothes before going out; otherwise, he would definitely be reeking of hot pot by now.

“Do you smell the osmanthus?”

As soon as Lu Zhao said it, Zhou Zefeng really did catch the subtle fragrance of osmanthus in the air.

Lu Zhao continued, “They transplanted a lot of osmanthus trees in the complex. Every autumn, the scent gets almost choking.”

Zhou Zefeng thought, Yes, it does. Otherwise, the first time he came to this complex, a playful little golden osmanthus flower wouldn’t have leapt into his hair. Thinking of that first time he met Lu Zhao, Zhou Zefeng felt his face heat up involuntarily.

As if lost in thought, Lu Zhao continued on his own, “When I was a kid, our family used to pick osmanthus to make osmanthus cakes.”

“Are they good?”

“They’re alright. At least better than mooncakes.”

“You don’t like mooncakes?” Zhou Zefeng asked, surprised.

Lu Zhao nodded. “They’re too sweet. Unless it’s the fruit-flavored kind, I can barely accept them.”

Zhou Zefeng smiled with understanding. “Especially the orange-flavored ones, right?”

Lu Zhao let out an “en,” and Zhou Zefeng couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you like citrus things so much? SpongeBob lives in a pineapple; I feel like you live in an orange.”

Lu Zhao was amused by Zhou Zefeng’s analogy and explained, “We used to live right by an orchard, so I got used to it.”

Before Zhou Zefeng could respond, Lu Zhao leaned in close and asked in all seriousness, “Does it not smell good?”

“It doesn’t smell good. It stinks to high heaven.” Zhou Zefeng’s mouth was as stubborn as they came, but his breathing involuntarily quickened. To distract himself and appear nonchalant, he kept his eyes fixed on the big white snowball of a dog not far away.

“Oh, is that so?” Lu Zhao’s tone held a touch of disappointment, and he spoke as if deeply troubled. “I thought you found it fragrant seeing you hug my clothes just to sniff them.”

Hearing this, Zhou Zefeng’s face instantly exploded. He didn’t dare look at Lu Zhao’s face. Left with nowhere to turn, he could only look up blankly at the full moon hanging in the sky before tilting his head back until his neck grew sore.

“Is the moon really that beautiful?”

Lu Zhao’s breath suddenly drew close, causing Zhou Zefeng to flinch in surprise. His ear tickled from Lu Zhao’s breath, and he instinctively covered it. Whether from mugginess or sheer embarrassment, his blush crept all the way down to his neck, making him look exactly like an innocent maiden being accosted by a libertine.

“It’s pretty nice.” Zhou Zefeng forced out an answer.

Lu Zhao understood that Zhou Zefeng was quick to be teased and normally would back off once he got a reaction, but today, going completely against his usual pattern, he kept pushing, asking, “Is it better looking than I am?”

Zhou Zefeng finally looked directly at Lu Zhao’s face. Under the moonlight, his silhouette appeared even softer. Though the moonlight was crisp and cold, hitting half of Lu Zhao’s face made it look inexplicably warm and inviting.

This very face, which he hadn’t dared to look at too closely in the kitchen this afternoon, was now right within arm’s reach. Beneath the slightly upturned corner of his eye was a tear mole, and the outer corners of his eyes were still a bit flushed. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked cold and distant, but when he did smile, it seemed as if anyone could bully him.

And then there was that rosy mouth. Why on earth did a grown man have a lip philtrum like that? Having eaten spicy hot pot, it looked even more vividly red and slightly upturned as if inviting someone to come suck on it.

Zhou Zefeng felt like a foolish monk being tempted in a temple at midnight; his mind was in a complete whirlwind, yet his eyes looked entirely blank.

“Not as beautiful as you.”