After returning home and having the late-night snack prepared by Aunt Liu, the two chatted together for a while before heading to their rooms to rest.
Yu Shulin had just finished his shower and was about to climb into bed when his door was knocked on.
"Brother?" He opened the door, looking somewhat puzzled at Liang Zhou in pajamas outside. "Why aren't you resting yet? Weren't you very tired?"
"Haven't seen you in so long, don't you want to have a proper chat?" Liang Zhou smiled, his gaze sweeping over Yu Shulin's soft, damp hair, his smile deepening. He pushed the door open, walked in, and stood by the bed looking at him. "Sleep together, hmm?"
Yu Shulin looked at him, then at the bed, his eyes lighting up. He nodded with a smile and closed the door. "Okay, let's sleep together!"
The bed was relatively small, so the two were quite close. Yu Shulin rolled over to face Liang Zhou and asked, "What do you want to talk about, brother? Just so you know, I have to sleep before eleven, or I won't be able to get up tomorrow."
"I won't keep you from resting." Liang Zhou also turned on his side, their faces close, breaths mingling. "How about we talk about... that phone call Teacher Gao made to me."
Yu Shulin: "..." Is this settling scores after the fact?
"Why so quiet?" Liang Zhou reached out to tousle his hair. His voice, in the dim lamplight, sounded gentle and doting. "Feeling guilty?"
"Why should I feel guilty?" Yu Shulin thought of the recent drama and frowned, explaining, "Actually, it didn't have to blow up like that. But I couldn't find the gift that girl gave me no matter what. Since I didn't return it, she thought I had accepted it. She kept coming to find me every day, even saying I was her boyfriend. Rejecting her was useless; it was really affecting my studies."
Liang Zhou's hand paused, then moved down to pinch his ear. "And then?"
It tickled a bit. Yu Shulin leaned back slightly and continued, "Then that girl's admirer came to give me trouble. The teacher found out, and then both the girl and her admirer had their parents called in. And then... you got Teacher Gao's complaint call." And then he had been interrogated.
"You really don't like that girl?" Liang Zhou withdrew his hand and asked.
"No, I don't. I want to focus on studying, on getting into university." Yu Shulin stated his determination, clenching his fist. "I want to be a top student!"
Hearing this, Liang Zhou felt both relieved and worried. Hesitantly, he asked, "Then, Shulin, do you have someone you like? Or, what type of person do you like?"
Yu Shulin, who thought his promise would reassure his brother, was taken aback. He pondered the question carefully and shook his head. "I don't know. I've never liked anyone before." He truly hadn't liked anyone before. Although he had ended up in prison in his past life, he had completed high school. Seventeen or eighteen-year-olds are most prone to budding romantic feelings, but now, thinking back carefully, his youth had been utterly blank, without a single pink bubble. Back then, he was either worrying about his grades or puzzling over why his uncle's family was sometimes cold and sometimes warm towards him... So pitiful.
Liang Zhou stroked his face, leaned closer, looked into his bright, gentle eyes, hesitated, then carefully moved in and gently kissed the corner of his mouth. He pulled back slightly and asked nervously, "Then this... do you like it?"
Yu Shulin's eyes went wide. After a long moment of stunned silence, he smiled, cupped Liang Zhou's face, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "It's just a goodnight kiss, what's there to like or not like? Brother, you're picking up more and more habits from foreigners." He finished speaking, rolled over onto his back, yawned, and closed his eyes. "Goodnight kiss given, time to sleep now, right? I'm so sleepy..." He said, and then... fell asleep instantly.
Liang Zhou's heart had just started pounding wildly from that proactive kiss, only to be nearly choked into cardiac arrest by his words the next second. After a long while, he gently nudged the other. "Shulin?"
The young man didn't move a muscle, his breathing long and steady, clearly already in deep sleep.
He sat up, frowned and glared at him for a long moment, then finally tapped his forehead hard in frustration. "You heartless little rascal."
Probably bothered by the tapping, Yu Shulin frowned, turned over, hugged a corner of the blanket, and fell into an even deeper sleep.
...You little brat!
Liang Zhou lay back down beside him. After a long while, he turned over, gathered the other into his arms, lowered his head to plant a firm kiss behind his ear, and growled in a low voice, "Just you wait, I'll make you pay for this later!"
First confession: Failed.
After returning to the country, Liang Zhou immediately threw himself wholeheartedly into film promotion and preparations for the domestic premiere.
Ling Chun, Busy Person Number One who spent his days navigating various lawsuits, found time to visit Rong Guang and had a closed-door discussion with Busy Person Number Two, Liang Zhou, in the office for an hour.
An hour later, under Zhang Qian's gossip-hungry gaze, Ling Chun emerged beaming with satisfaction. In contrast, Liang Zhou's expression was terribly dark.
Seeing Zhang Qian watching eagerly at the door, Liang Zhou's temple twitched. He pulled Ling Chun back and instructed, "Don't follow Guan Bowen's example. Keep your mouth shut."
"Got it, got it, I know my limits." Ling Chun waved dismissively. But before entering the elevator, he paused, turned back, and said seriously to Liang Zhou, "If you ever end up in jail for molesting a minor... don't worry, I won't bail you out. Too embarrassing."
What? Molesting? Jail?
Zhang Qian, who had been sneakily eavesdropping, widened his eyes, his mouth forming an 'O'. He looked at Liang Zhou as if seeing a monster.
Liang Zhou frowned, his face turning even darker. He pushed Ling Chun, shooing him away. "That will absolutely never happen. Now go. Remember, don't spout nonsense in front of Shulin."
Ling Chun shrugged, gave Zhang Qian a meaningful smile, and finally left.
As soon as he was gone, Zhang Qian immediately bounced over, blocking Liang Zhou's path, stammering, "Boss, y-you... you can't lose your head! Tell me, what type of guy do you like? I'll help you find one! But you absolutely cannot go molesting minors! All the people here at Rong Guang, we all depend on you for our livelihoods!"
Liang Zhou shot him a chilly look, stepped past him, and headed towards the conference room. "Shut up. Notify Zhao Zhi and the others to meet in the conference room."
"...Oh." Such a temper. Must be sexually frustrated, Zhang Qian thought to himself.
The proposal for restructuring Rong Guang had been thoroughly digested by the project team during Liang Zhou's business trip. They were just waiting for Liang Zhou's return to finalize the plan before they could start implementing it.
The meeting lasted four hours. By the time everyone emerged like wandering spirits, it was already 8 PM. Everyone else in the building, except for them, had already clocked out.
Missed dinner with Shulin again... Liang Zhou put down his phone, leaned back in the car, and sighed, tiredly rubbing his forehead.
He Long in the driver's seat looked at him, wanting to say something but hesitating.
"What is it?" Liang Zhou opened his eyes and asked calmly.
He Long's expression was conflicted. He said stiffly, "Young Master, you and Shulin Young Master..."
"It's exactly what you heard," Liang Zhou confirmed, meeting his gaze in the rearview mirror. "You know what should be said and what shouldn't, right?"
"Yes." He Long hurriedly averted his gaze and answered respectfully, though he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It seemed what Ling Chun and Guan Bowen said was true. It seems the young master really does have feelings for Young Master Shulin, but... ah... This worried him.
Before the National Day holiday began, the dreaded monthly exams started.
After being thoroughly tormented for several days, the students finally welcomed the holiday, scattering out of the school gates to breathe the brief air of freedom.
Li Tao turned to look at Yu Shulin. "How are you planning to spend National Day?"
"Not sure, I'll listen to my brother's arrangements," Yu Shulin said with a smile. "Actually, I'd prefer sleeping in at home. I haven't slept in for ages." After being a good student for so long, one needs to relax occasionally too.
Li Tao's lips curved slightly, revealing a faint smile.
On the first day of the National Day holiday, Yu Shulin went to attend Wang Zhi's birthday party at his invitation.
After Aunt Liu saw him off, she started mopping the floor. Seeing Liang Zhou come downstairs, she quickly put down the mop, wiped her hands, and headed towards the kitchen. "Young Master, I'll get your breakfast. Young Master Shulin has gone out. He said he won't be back for lunch and asked me to tell you."
Liang Zhou paused, glanced towards the entryway, and indeed saw that the bicycle key usually hanging on the hook was gone. Frowning, he walked to the dining room and asked, "Where did he go?"
"He said it's a classmate's birthday and he was invited. He felt bad about not going. Young Master Shulin originally wanted to tell you himself, but you came back late yesterday and slept in a bit today. He didn't want to wake you, so he just left." Aunt Liu chattered on as she brought out a bowl of porridge and placed it in front of Liang Zhou. "Young Master Shulin is really popular. Last weekend some classmates asked him to hang out too, but he declined. That child, always holed up at home studying, it must be so tiring."
A birthday party? Liang Zhou's hand holding the spoon stilled as he remembered something very important. "Aunt Liu... when is Shulin's birthday?"
"Ah..." Aunt Liu stopped her chatter, thought for a moment, and was dumbfounded. "Oh no, since Young Master Shulin came here, it seems he's never celebrated a birthday. He's never even mentioned when his birthday is."
As I thought... Liang Zhou dropped the spoon back into the bowl, frowning, feeling somewhat defeated. "He's really never mentioned it?"
"No." Aunt Liu grew worried, deeply regretting her own carelessness. "Kids these days all care about celebrating birthdays, having parties and such. We've never thrown one for Young Master Shulin. Could he be getting left out by his classmates?" The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. She couldn't stand still anymore, pacing in a circle before heading towards the living room. "I'll call and ask Young Master Shulin. Next birthday we'll give him a proper celebration. If nobody knows his birthday, he must be sad..."
"Don't panic. I'll ask." Liang Zhou quickly stopped her. After a moment's thought, he turned and headed upstairs. "Forget it. Just act like you don't know about this. Don't let Shulin notice."
"Huh?" Aunt Liu was stunned, then displeased. She wanted to say more, but Liang Zhou had already gone back to his room.
Uncle He, who was mostly inconspicuous, came in through the side door of the villa and said seriously, "Xiao Liu, don't meddle in this. The young master never celebrates his own birthday, and Young Master Shulin doesn't seem like the type to care much about such things either. It's just a birthday, no need to get so worked up."
Aunt Liu choked, shooting him a glare. What a man with no sense of life's pleasures! What do you know about how appealing birthday parties are to kids! The young master doesn't celebrate because he's busy and finds it troublesome, but Young Master Shulin is so well-liked and right in the middle of the fun-loving, boisterous teenage years. How can he not celebrate a birthday!
Yu Shulin sat bored in the KTV private room, listening to his classmates' caterwauling, and desperately wanted to go home. On a perfectly good holiday, he'd much rather be holed up in the living room doing homework with his brother.
Wang Zhi, having finished screeching through a song, ran over and plopped down next to Yu Shulin. He opened a soda, took a big gulp, sighed contentedly, and yelled, "Awesome!"
The background music switched to a softer ballad. Yu Shulin's tense nerves relaxed, and he finally felt a bit better.
"Shulin, what do you want to sing? I'll pick it for you!" Wang Zhi bellowed. As the birthday boy, he was practically delirious with excitement today. Coming to sing KTV in the morning had been his idea.
Yu Shulin rubbed his ear and shook his head. "I don't know how to sing. You guys have fun."
Wang Zhi frowned and slapped his shoulder hard. "How can you be so boring? It's my birthday today! Come on, let's relax properly. Sing one! Hey, by the way, Shulin, when's your birthday? When it comes, we brothers will have a proper celebration for you!"
Birthday? He was taken aback, frowning as he thought hard for a moment before giving an answer. "My birthday is at the end of September. It just passed."
"What!" Wang Zhi howled, displeased. "Not cool, bro! How could you not invite me for your birthday? You didn't give me face."
Yu Shulin, worn out by his hyperactive friend's attitude, shook his head helplessly. "I haven't celebrated my birthday for many years. It wasn't that I didn't invite you." He himself had almost forgotten about birthdays... But come to think of it, when is my brother's birthday? It seems like it's never been celebrated either...
He frowned, annoyed at his own carelessness.
"How can you not celebrate a birthday! We missed this year's, but next year's we have to go all out! Come on, let's sing. I'll help you relax properly." With that, Wang Zhi snatched the microphone and shoved it into his hands. "Sing!"
Yu Shulin snapped out of his thoughts, looked down at the microphone in his hand, and felt a headache coming on. What to do? He really didn't know how to sing.
