LNTSWJLY Chapter 66

The engagement banquet came to an end. The guests gradually dispersed, the decorative lights were turned off, and the entire villa seemed to fall asleep, with everything returning to silence and peace.

Only the kitchen was still lit by quiet, gentle lights, illuminating every corner clearly.

A figure moved through the light, exceptionally bright and striking.

The scene caught the eye of Lan Jingzhi, who was quietly coming downstairs, and he froze for a moment.

“Since you’re here, help me get a bowl.” Yu Zhi remained focused on what he was doing, not even lifting his head.

Lan Jingzhi felt a lump of displeasure rise in his chest.

Did this man call him downstairs just to make him work?

“Sure. But, Little Brother Yu, where is the bowl you want? I’ve never been in the kitchen before, so I don’t know where anything is. If I happen to pick the wrong one, don’t blame me.”

Lan Jingzhi gave him a fake smile.

Yu Zhi pressed his lips together, suppressing the slight upward curve at the corners of his mouth.

“It’s fine. As long as you don’t find it strange or dislike it when it’s given to you.”

Lan Jingzhi: “…”

He obediently searched through the cabinets for quite a while before finally finding the bowl Yu Zhi wanted and washing it clean.

He did not want to eat bacteria.

There were several plastic containers on the counter, filled with handmade ice cream in beautiful, vivid colors.

Even from a distance, Lan Jingzhi could smell the fragrance coming from the ice cream. There were strawberry, milk, vanilla, mango, and taro flavors. None of the scents were too strong. Instead, each carried the refreshing coolness of summer.

He watched as Yu Zhi shaped, arranged, and decorated the ice cream with his hands, eventually turning it into a beautiful and appetizing dessert in the bowl.

The transparent glass bowl, with its delicate flower-shaped rim, held ice cream in many different colors. Some were ice pops frozen in molds, while others were soft, fluffy scoops of sweet ice cream. Arranged together in the bowl, they looked especially tempting on a midsummer night, making anyone crave a taste.

“So Little Brother Yu really can make ice cream. I underestimated you. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

Lan Jingzhi spoke sincerely.

Clearly, he had remembered Yu Zhi mentioning a few days ago that he could make ice cream.

After adding some fruit, Yu Zhi put a spoon into the bowl.

“Done.”

He handed the bowl and spoon to Lan Jingzhi.

“A gift.”

Lan Jingzhi felt the coolness spreading from the bowl into his hands, along with the sweet fragrance continuously drifting into his nose.

He scooped up a spoonful and put it into his mouth.

It was sweet and delicious without being overly rich. The coolness seemed to travel straight from his mouth into his heart, and much of the irritation he had felt that night gradually disappeared. His mind became relaxed and clear.

“Little Brother Yu is way too stingy. Everyone else gave me gifts worth a fortune, but all I got was this bowl of ice cream…”

Lan Jingzhi deliberately sounded aggrieved.

“Little Brother Yu, do you dislike me? You don’t want to wish your brother and me well?”

Lan Jingzhi was delighted inside, but on the surface, he deliberately put on a wronged expression.

Yu Zhi reached out to take back the ice cream Lan Jingzhi was holding in his arms.

“Then give it back to me.”

Lan Jingzhi hurriedly dodged him. “Hey… Once a gift has been given, how can you take it back?”

“But if Little Brother Yu wants some, we can eat it together.”

With a bright, teasing smile, Lan Jingzhi used the spoon he had already been eating with to scoop up a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and held it out in front of Yu Zhi.

“Want some?”

Yu Zhi raised his eyes to look at him. Seeing the amusement in Lan Jingzhi’s eyes, he immediately knew that the man was teasing him.

He raised an eyebrow with a smile, stepped forward, and ate the spoonful of ice cream.

“Not bad.”

Lan Jingzhi muttered to himself, ‘He actually praised his own ice cream and did not even have the slightest bit of modesty.’

Wait!

Wasn’t the most important thing that he had actually eaten it?!

Lan Jingzhi hurriedly pulled the spoon back.

Feeling Yu Zhi’s seemingly casual gaze on him, he suddenly found himself unable to take another bite.

It was not because he disliked the ice cream.

It was because of the way Yu Zhi was looking at him.

Under that gaze, it felt as though he was not eating ice cream at all, but kissing the other man.

And yet Yu Zhi seemed completely unaware of anything unusual. He even reminded him casually, “What? Doesn’t it suit your taste?”

Lan Jingzhi stabbed at the ice cream twice with the spoon, as if he could poke away the lingering presence of Yu Zhi’s aura.

Only then did he scoop up a large spoonful of strawberry ice cream and put it into his mouth, chewing it fiercely as though he were chewing on a certain someone.

The corners of Yu Zhi’s lips curved up slightly.

There was something peaceful about simply watching the other man eat.

A faint sense of pleasure slowly spread through his heart, gradually seeping into both his mind and body.

Lan Jingzhi then said, with a slight hint of disappointment, “How did Little Brother Yu think of giving me this kind of gift on a day like today? Is it because I looked too greedy for ice cream before?”

Wasn’t it a little too cheap?

And it was not appropriate for the occasion at all.

Yu Zhi smiled faintly.

“I thought you needed it tonight. Ice cream is cold. It helps dispel internal heat.”

Lan Jingzhi’s absent-minded poking at the scoop of ice cream suddenly stopped.

The fake expression on his face stiffened for a moment.

He raised his head expressionlessly and looked at Yu Zhi, his eyes becoming deep and dark.

He tossed the bowl onto the counter, folded his arms across his chest, and stared coldly at Yu Zhi.

“You’re making fun of me?”

This was the first time Lan Jingzhi had dropped his previously obedient and harmless act and shown Yu Zhi such an openly aggressive side of himself.

Yu Zhi looked at him for a couple of seconds longer.

Then he reached over and picked up the bowl Lan Jingzhi had tossed aside. He stirred the scoops of ice cream that Lan Jingzhi had already messed up, breaking them apart even further. The strawberry and vanilla mixed together, making the colors even prettier.

He scooped up a spoonful and held it to Lan Jingzhi’s lips.

“Don’t be angry.”

Lan Jingzhi was almost amused enough to laugh from sheer irritation.

Was this supposed to count as an apology or something?

Did Yu Zhi really think he was that easy to coax?

He opened his mouth and ate the spoonful of mixed-flavor ice cream, then gave a cold laugh.

“I know Little Brother Yu looks down on me. You think I’m not worthy of entering the Yu family’s doors. I know you think I have no right to laugh and chat happily with those guests, to mingle with them as if I belong there. I…”

Yu Zhi forcibly fed him another spoonful, temporarily silencing him.

“There’s no question of whether you’re worthy or not. If anything, they’re the ones who aren’t worthy of you wasting your time trying so hard to establish yourself around them, deliberately flattering them and trying to get close to them.”

Lan Jingzhi’s expression froze.

He turned his head and looked at Yu Zhi with a trace of surprise and astonishment.

“Lan Jingzhi, what were you angry about tonight?”

Yu Zhi paid no attention to his gaze and continued with his feeding as though nothing had happened.

One spoonful after another.

For a moment, Lan Jingzhi actually forgot to speak.

“For several hours tonight, some people were hypocritical and contemptuous, some were timid and guilty, and some were spreading idle gossip. They’re the ones who should feel ashamed, embarrassed, and reflect on themselves.”

“Why are you comparing yourself to those people? Why do you think you’re inferior to them?”

Yu Zhi’s tone remained calm and even.

Although he was speaking, there was a kind of peace to his words that seemed to settle the heart.

Lan Jingzhi was completely stunned.

The anger he had felt earlier gradually faded away, leaving only calmness behind.

“I…”

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Yet after being lost in thought for a long while, he could not say anything at all.

He looked at Yu Zhi.

Only when Yu Zhi finally raised his head and met his gaze did Lan Jingzhi quickly look away again, as though he did not dare meet those calm, quiet eyes.

A faint smile spread across his lips, its mockery cold enough to pierce to the bone.

How beautiful those words sounded.

In this lifetime, he had never heard anyone tell him that he should not compare himself with others; that it was others who were not as good as him.

The words sounded like sweet, soothing coaxing, tempting him to believe them without question.

But in reality, the things that elevated a person’s social standing in this world were those external possessions and circumstances, not the person themselves.

Besides… what kind of great, righteous, perfectly good person was Lan Jingzhi anyway? That would truly be the biggest joke he had ever heard in his life.

Looking at Yu Zhi, who was being completely serious, the touch of emotion Lan Jingzhi had felt just moments ago turned into amusement.

He was still just a child.

A child who had never experienced the cruelty of surviving in society.

Naive and laughable.

Thinking this way, his mood returned to what it had been before, only now he felt much more relaxed and carefree.

“Little Brother Yu, you’re really cute.”

“Although what you said is unrealistic, I like it. Just don’t say things like that to other people in the future. They’ll laugh at you.”

Yu Zhi met his eyes and saw the true emotions hidden inside them.

Lan Jingzhi was genuinely happy.

That happiness came from what Yu Zhi had just said.

But he did not believe it.

It did not matter.

They could take things slowly. He still had time.

The bowl of ice cream was placed back into Lan Jingzhi’s arms.

“If you like it, keep eating. But don’t eat too much. You’ll upset your stomach.”

He put all the remaining ice cream into the refrigerator and washed the kitchen utensils clean.

“I’m going back to my room.”

“Wait!” Lan Jingzhi called after him.

Yu Zhi stopped and turned around to look at him.

“What is it?”

Lan Jingzhi looked up at him and gave him a teasing smile.

“Little Brother Yu praised me so much just now. It wouldn’t happen to be because…”

He walked closer and leaned toward Yu Zhi’s neck, his warm breath brushing against him as he spoke in a meaningful tone,

“You like me, do you?”

Yu Zhi raised an eyebrow and looked at him seriously. With a smile, he asked,

“What if I do?”

A sudden surge of happiness rose in Lan Jingzhi’s heart, but he deliberately suppressed it and pretended to remain calm.

“If that’s the case, then I can only… apologize and reject you. No matter what, I’m your brother’s boyfriend.”

He paused.

“No, fiancé now, I suppose.”

Yu Zhi could see the happiness and smugness Lan Jingzhi was trying to suppress in his eyes.

Clearly, being liked by someone was like a trophy to this man. It satisfied both his vanity and his possessiveness.

Yu Zhi felt that this situation needed to be stopped. He could not let Lan Jingzhi become too pleased with himself, or he would probably become even more fearless and unrestrained.

So he frowned and said seriously, “Brother Jingzhi, how could you think that? The fact that you’re my brother’s fiancé is right there. How could I possibly steal my brother’s fiancé?”

Lan Jingzhi’s smile stiffened slightly, but he quickly adjusted his expression.

“Then today…”

Yu Zhi suddenly looked as though he had just realized what Lan Jingzhi meant.

“Brother Jingzhi, you mean why I comforted you today? Of course it’s because you’re my brother’s fiancé, and you’re also part of the family. I don’t want to see you unhappy and have it affect my brother.”

Lan Jingzhi did not believe him, but he was also beginning to hesitate and feel uncertain.

Yu Zhi had seemed somewhat ambiguous tonight, but his words and actions had not really crossed any lines.

And besides…

Thinking back to last time, that kid seemed to like girls.

Could he really have fallen for someone else so quickly?

The more Lan Jingzhi thought about it, the more upset he became.

He forced a smile.

“So that’s how it is…”

“Little Brother Yu, it would probably be better if you didn’t get too close to me from now on. I believe you, but other people might misunderstand.”

Yu Zhi deliberately put on a troubled and confused expression.

“Is that so? All right, then. As long as you’re doing well and happy every day, I won’t need to get close to you just to comfort you.”

Lan Jingzhi: “G-Good… good.”

He watched Yu Zhi go upstairs with an expectant look in his eyes.

Yet Yu Zhi really did not look back at him even once.

Did this man really not like him?

Lan Jingzhi’s heart felt both sour and heavy.

Even after washing up and getting into bed, he was still unable to stop thinking about Yu Zhi.

Could that kid really have no feelings for him?

Had he been imagining things all along?

They had at least slept together once. Yu Zhi had even helped him shut people down before.

As the saying went, one night as husband and wife creates a hundred days of affection.

So how could Yu Zhi not feel even the slightest attraction toward him?

Come to think of it, how had he performed that night?

Could it be that his first time had left a bad impression and made Yu Zhi lose interest in whatever improper thoughts he might have had?

For some reason, Lan Jingzhi simply could not accept it.

He felt as though he had lost.

A few days later, Yu Zhi got up early and went out.

He took a car to an office building and entered a company called Jinghang Investments, where he was soon greeted by a staff member.

The person seemed not to have expected Yu Zhi to be so young and looked surprised for a moment.

“Hello, Mr. Yu. We’ve already prepared your contract. You can take it and read through it first before signing.”

They were giving him time to have a lawyer review the contract for any loopholes or to suggest revisions and additions.

“No need.” Yu Zhi declined the suggestion and picked up the contract himself. He read through it, confirmed that the clauses he cared about were satisfactory, and then requested a few changes.

The contract was printed again, and the two parties proceeded to sign it.

The staff member extended a hand politely. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

“Likewise,” Yu Zhi replied.

By the time he returned to the Yu family home, it was already four or five in the afternoon. After entering, he was surprised to find an unexpected guest he had more or less anticipated.

Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the person sitting in the living room, chatting merrily with his mother. Laughter rang out from time to time.

“Have we got a guest?”

Mother Yu frowned, clearly displeased.

“This is your Brother Ningyang, your brother’s friend. He used to visit our home all the time. Have you forgotten?”

Yu Zhi replied calmly, “I remember him. But ever since my brother’s accident, this… Mr. Xia seems not to have visited even once.”

Mother Yu’s expression turned unhappy. However, Xia Ningyang looked embarrassed and guilty. He hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

“Little Zhi, I’m sorry. It wasn’t that I deliberately avoided visiting Brother Chen. Something happened to me during that period, too, and I couldn’t find the time. Look, as soon as I had some free time, I came to visit Brother Chen. Uncle, Auntie, please don’t be angry with me.”

Yu Zhi nodded as though he accepted the explanation. But what he said next was anything but forgiving.

“That’s true. My brother and my brother-in-law got engaged a few days ago, so you must have had some free time by then. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to attend their engagement banquet.”

Xia Ningyang had attended the engagement banquet a few days earlier, yet he had waited several more days before coming to visit. His smile nearly slipped.

But he didn’t dare say anything.

If Yu Zhi pressed him for an explanation, would he really have to admit that he had stayed away out of guilt and needed several more days to work up the courage to come?

So, even though Xia Ningyang was being subtly called out, all he could do was laugh awkwardly. He had no way to respond.

Mother Yu knew that Xia Ningyang had a good relationship with her son, so she still tried to defend him.

“Do you think everyone is as idle as you are? Your Brother Ningyang has a job. So what if he was delayed by a few days?”

Yu Zhi had no desire to entertain her. With someone like Mother Yu, the more attention you gave her, the more she would carry on. So he simply turned to Xia Ningyang and said, “Since you’re here, Mr. Xia, you should go and see my brother. Given how close the two of you are, I’m sure he must really want to see you.”

Although Xia Ningyang had mentally prepared himself, the thought of actually facing Yu Chen still made his heart pound with anxiety. He was frightened.

At that moment, Mother Yu stood up as well.

“That’s right. Ningyang will be leaving soon. Go and see Chenchen now. Perhaps he’ll wake up when he learns you’ve come to visit!”

Xia Ningyang’s feelings were complicated.

On the one hand, he hoped Yu Chen would wake up. After all, they had been best friends, and Xia Ningyang’s feelings for him had gone beyond friendship.

On the other hand, he was afraid that once Yu Chen woke up and learned that Xia Ningyang had failed to call an ambulance to save him, he would hate him and seek revenge.

He was afraid.

But things had already come to this point. Pretending he knew nothing was the only option left to him.

When Lan Jingzhi saw Xia Ningyang, he greeted him with an exceptionally bright smile.

“Mr. Xia, would you like to see Brother Yu Chen? I’ll take you there right away. Brother Yu Chen is sunbathing on the balcony at the moment. I was just about to go upstairs and put on the news for him. Someone will be coming to give Brother Yu Chen his nutritional injection soon, so you’ll only have a little time with him. You can’t stay too long. For Brother Yu Chen’s health, I’m sure you understand, right, Mr. Xia?”

Watching Lan Jingzhi speak as though he were the master of the house, Xia Ningyang felt a lump of discomfort rise in his chest. He forced a smile.

“I understand. There’s no need for you to show me the way, Mr. Lan. I’ve been to Brother Chen’s room many times. I can find it myself.”

Lan Jingzhi gave him a meaningful look.

“Oh…”

Xia Ningyang practically fled.

Mother Yu followed them upstairs as well. She wanted to see her son, too.

Yu Zhi watched Lan Jingzhi standing there with his arms folded and a smug smile on his face. The corner of his mouth twitched. He stepped forward and reminded him, “Tone it down a little.”

Otherwise, once Yu Chen woke up, Lan Jingzhi would be in for a very painful reality check.

Lan Jingzhi smiled at Yu Zhi.

“What have I done? I’m simply being sincere when I say how happy I am that Mr. Xia has come to visit! Little Brother Yu, your brother’s friend has come to see him. Doesn’t that make you happy? Surely this means there’s a greater chance of your brother waking up, doesn’t it?”

Yu Zhi answered bluntly, “So-so. I don’t feel much of anything.”

Lan Jingzhi: “……” This kid really didn’t give him even the slightest bit of face.

Thinking about it, Yu Zhi had actually been quite sincere when comforting him, hadn’t he?

Once he looked at it that way, Lan Jingzhi unexpectedly found himself feeling happy.

Yu Zhi suddenly turned to him and asked an unexpected question.

“What will you do if my brother really wakes up because that person came to visit?”

How could that possibly happen?!

Lan Jingzhi almost laughed at the thought. Yu Chen had been unconscious for so long without showing the slightest sign of waking up. What was Xia Ningyang, some kind of miracle cure? Was Yu Chen supposed to wake up the moment he arrived?

Lan Jingzhi was just about to speak when he heard a flurry of hurried, panicked footsteps upstairs.

Mother Yu rushed out of the room, flinging the door open.

“Doctor! Go get the doctor! Chenchen… Chenchen is moving!”

Lan Jingzhi: “……!!!”

He whipped his head around and stared at Yu Zhi.

Yu Zhi looked back at him helplessly. “Don’t suspect me of being a jinx. I’m not one.”

How does he know what I’m thinking?!

Lan Jingzhi suppressed his shock and hastily pulled himself together. He adjusted his expression into one of astonished delight, then hurried after Mother Yu.

Yu Zhi let the two of them pass before heading upstairs himself. He went straight into Yu Chen’s room.

Yu Chen had already been wheeled back inside, but the brilliant sunlight still fell across his body.

Xia Ningyang sat beside the bed, panicked and restless, hardly knowing what to do with himself. Fortunately, Mother Yu had run out of the room quickly, leaving him sitting there, too frightened to move.

He was terrified that Yu Chen might wake up at any moment, see him, and immediately fly into a rage.

He had wanted to leave, but Yu Zhi’s arrival interrupted his attempt to escape.

Yu Zhi walked in, glanced at Yu Chen lying on the bed with his brows furrowed and his fingers twitching slightly, then turned to look at Xia Ningyang.

“Xiao Zhi, your brother…” Xia Ningyang opened his mouth to speak.

Yu Zhi interrupted him. “My brother’s car accident happened because of you, didn’t it?”

Those few words instantly drained the color from Xia Ningyang’s face, leaving him deathly pale.

“Y-You… what are you talking about? I don’t understand!” Xia Ningyang denied it.

“There’s no need to make excuses. I know everything. The car accident happened because you argued with him. He was seriously injured while protecting you, but because you panicked, he missed the best opportunity to receive medical treatment. I know all of it.”

As Yu Zhi spoke, he wasn’t looking at Xia Ningyang. His eyes remained on Yu Chen.

He knew that Yu Chen could already hear them.

In the original plot, this was when Xia Ningyang told Yu Chen how frightened he had been during this time and how much he had missed him. That was what made Yu Chen never ask how he had been rescued in the first place after waking up.

In the original story, Yu Chen had no idea that Xia Ningyang had nearly prevented him from receiving timely medical treatment.

Today, Yu Zhi was going to expose the truth.

Xia Ningyang wanted to explain himself, but Yu Zhi gave him no chance.

“While my brother was in a vegetative state, the people who stayed by his side were his family and Brother Jingzhi. You never came to see him. Not even once. You were afraid, weren’t you? Afraid he would take revenge on you.”

Xia Ningyang trembled with fear.

“Leave. If my brother still wants to see you after he wakes up, he’ll contact you himself.”

Xia Ningyang fled the Yu family home in a panic, stumbling over himself as he ran, as though some evil spirit were lurking inside.

Yu Zhi calmly watched Yu Chen, who was frowning and trying to open his eyes, wondering how he would react once he woke up.

In the original plot, Lan Jingzhi had suffered one grievance after another for various reasons. According to Yu Zhi’s plan, the more mistreatment Lan Jingzhi endured at the hands of others, the closer he would grow to Yu Zhi, and the more willing he would be to leave with him.

But Yu Zhi no longer wanted Lan Jingzhi to be misunderstood.

Not even a little.

“Big Brother, hurry up and wake up.”

Then I can take him away sooner, too.

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