Early in the morning, not fully awake, Chi Wang followed along with Su Lian's words. He raised his hand to wipe his face, covering his thoughtless mouth.
His peripheral vision swept over Su Huasheng's face. The alley had been dark last night, so he hadn't paid much attention to his appearance. Now he realized that the father and son's features were very similar, and even their somewhat cold auras were identical.
Oh no, he had really embarrassed himself.
He asked again uncertainly, "Is he really your dad?"
Su Lian replied exasperatedly, "Who else could he be, yours? Did you have your brain stir-fried?"
When Su Lian was with Chi Wang before, Su Huasheng had already passed away, so there had been no chance to meet the parents, let alone call someone "dad" in person.
The teenage Chi Wang was quite wild; even though they had no relationship now, he could blurt out such things.
This situation, this scene, these words - shocked both father and son.
Su Huasheng, who had suddenly gained a son after finishing his night shift, managed to remain composed. He lightly coughed and turned to leave, saying, "You two put on your clothes properly and come out to talk."
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly closed the door, not lingering for even half a second.
Su Lian got up in a daze, feeling that there was more to his father's words, giving him the impression of catching them in the act.
But the key problem was, they hadn't done anything.
The two in the room exchanged a wordless glance, unable to fathom what was going through the middle-aged man's mind.
Chi Wang reached out to scratch his messy hair, asking confusedly, "Aren't we already wearing clothes?"
His gaze fell on their two exposed legs. Due to the loose pant legs, which had rolled up at some point, only their thin ankles and calves were visible.
Intertwined together under the blanket, it indeed invited imagination.
This misunderstanding was both beautiful and terrible.
The two put on their clothes properly again, tidied up their appearance, and opened the door with serious expressions. Su Huasheng was sitting in the small living room drinking soy milk.
He slightly raised his chin and said coldly, "Sit down."
Chi Wang walked over and sat down carefully, "Hello, uncle. I'm sorry, that was meant as a question, not that I actually wanted to call you that. I was just too surprised. When we met in the alley last night, the lighting was too dim to see clearly. I just didn't expect such a young and handsome Good Samaritan to have such a grown-up son, and that he would happen to be Su Lian's father."
Su Lian was in awe of this level of flattery.
"It is quite a coincidence," Su Huasheng said slowly. "I also didn't expect you to stay for a sleep-over."
Su Lian pieced together the truth from the fragments of conversation. No wonder Chi Wang knew his apartment number; he must have asked casually when they met on the way.
He went over and sat down, reaching for an egg and starting to peel it. "We're both guys, what's wrong with sleeping in the same bed?"
This statement made sense. Chi Wang added casually, "Exactly, what's wrong with two guys? Besides, it's not the first time we've slept in the same bed."
Su Lian wanted to stuff the egg in his hand into Chi Wang's mouth to shut him up.
Sure enough, Su Huasheng raised his head again, looking shocked, "You sleep together in the dorm too?"
Su Lian: "..."
There was no saving this, might as well die.
Chi Wang nodded slowly, not understanding why the reaction was so big: "Ah, is that not okay? It's not every day, just occasionally."
Su Huasheng lowered his eyes and thought for a while, silently stuffing breakfast into his mouth without commenting.
Silence is scarier than an outburst. Su Lian directly exposed it: "Just say what you're thinking, don't play guessing games."
Su Huasheng nodded slightly and spoke slowly: "I'm just wondering how far you two have progressed."
Su Lian: "...We're really just normal classmates."
Su Huasheng didn't want to think in that direction either, but he knew his son too well. In all these years of school, he hadn't even brought a friend home, let alone had intimate contact and shared a bed several times.
To say there wasn't something going on, he really couldn't convince himself.
Ironically, Chi Wang was somewhat dissatisfied with the word "normal" and seriously added: "We're a bit closer than normal classmates, after all, he specially went to get me a safety charm yesterday."
As he spoke, he hooked the red string around his neck, pulling out the charm from inside his clothes to show it off.
Staring at the swaying charm, Su Lian's face turned ashen. He finally understood the qualitative difference between the future Chi Wang and the current one – the current one simply couldn't read the room.
Something that could have been explained clearly in a few words had to be embellished, making the situation worse.
It could be called a masterpiece of modern sketching.
Su Huasheng stared at the safety charm for a few seconds and said sourly: "Father and son for so many years, I've never received a safety charm."
His gaze drifted over, seemingly staring at Chi Wang, making his heart pound.
Damn, his dad really seemed to be misunderstanding that there was an affair. It was true that loose lips sink ships.
Chi Wang pressed his lips tightly and lowered his head to drink porridge, not daring to say another word.
The atmosphere sank into silence again, with the three lost in their own thoughts.
"Because last time he got injured on his arm while saving me, I felt guilty about it." Su Lian turned sideways and irritably pushed up the person's sleeve, revealing a faint mark on the muscular arm.
Seeing that wound with a thin layer of scar tissue, Su Huasheng's expression softened a bit: "So that's how it is. Young Chi is really a good person. Thank you for taking care of our little Su."
"You're welcome, it's what I should do," Chi Wang said, biting on his straw.
Finally having explained things clearly, Su Lian breathed a sigh of relief and slowly leaned back in his chair: "We help each other out. I was tutoring him last night. We studied too late, so I let him stay over for the night. It's not what you're thinking. For the next few days, I'll also be going to his house to help with tutoring."
"That's good, classmates should indeed help each other," Su Huasheng wiped his mouth clean with a tissue and slowly stood up. "After working a night shift, I'm going to catch up on some sleep."
"Rest well, uncle." Chi Wang watched the man's retreating figure and sighed, "Your dad is really nice."
Su Lian finally managed to stuff that egg into his mouth: "Eat your food."
The early morning had been a whirlwind, leaving them exhausted right after waking up.
The two were silent for a while. Chi Wang lowered his eyes to scroll through videos, changing the subject: "That video account has already been blocked, so you can relax."
"Oh." Su Lian didn't really want to deal with this idiot who couldn't keep his mouth shut right now.
If it weren't for his quick reaction, they'd probably be getting a cold lecture from Su Huasheng all afternoon.
After breakfast, Su Lian sat on the sofa and quietly switched to his alternate account to enter the fan group.
As expected, although the video had been taken down, quite a few people in the group had already downloaded it and were enthusiastically discussing it.
Already used to this kind of screaming situation, he scanned the group and his gaze fell on Member 1's avatar.
He needed to find a way to get the group owner to call for the video not to be shared further.
Thinking this, Su Lian clicked on the avatar and sent a friend request to add Taro Pudding Bobo Member 1.
Coincidentally, Chi Wang was also looking at the group at this moment. Seeing the friend request, he suspiciously accepted the chat.
[Taro Pudding Bobo Member 1]: Hello classmate, do you need something?
[Taro Pudding Bobo Member 500]: I want you, as the group owner, to tell everyone not to share the video further. It might not be good if the real person finds out.
Su Lian thought for a moment and added: After all, our principle is not to dance in front of the real person!
Afraid of exposing himself, he casually sent a Disney princess emoji.
[Taro Pudding Bobo Member 1]: You really are a qualified CP fan! I was thinking the same thing!
[Taro Pudding Bobo Member 500]: Yes! You're such a great group owner!
A screen full of exclamation marks. Su Lian typed with a blank expression, his heart unmoved.
This Taro Pudding Bobo cutie was secretly in love with him just half a month ago, how did they turn into a fan leader so quickly? Women's hearts are truly unfathomable.
The two finished playing fans online from a distance, raised their heads at the same time, panicked internally, and quickly avoided each other's gaze.
Su Lian pressed against the edge of the sofa and said slowly: "If you're done eating, go home. We'll start tutoring in a couple of days."
"Mm, I'm leaving now. See you in two days." Chi Wang hurriedly stood up and strode towards the door.
It wasn't until he reached the entrance of the alley that he realized his mistake. How did he agree to tutoring?
-
On the third day of the holiday, Su Lian arrived at Chi Wang's doorstep right on the dot. Unfortunately, the range of the wake-up call was limited, otherwise he would probably set up a remote alarm to make this person get up at 8 o'clock sharp.
The whole family was sleeping in. Chi Wang came to open the door with messy hair, looked at the time again, and said helplessly, "Teacher Su, I have to praise you again, you really are dedicated to your work."
"You're welcome. Go wash up and we'll start," Su Lian said expressionlessly as he changed into slippers and went straight upstairs.
Forced to study, Chi Wang ran his hand through his hair and sent a message to Gu Anjiu: Get over here for tutoring, quick.
As brothers, if they were going to suffer, they might as well suffer together.
Half an hour later, Gu Anjiu arrived by taxi, stumbling up to the second floor, his face filled with despair.
The two academically challenged students sat down at the desk, looking blankly at Su Lian: "What are we studying today?"
"Physics," Su Lian opened the textbook and pointed to a problem. "Try this one, let's see where you two are at."
Gu Anjiu glanced at the question and complained, "Why does this look like a math coordinate system with all these twists and turns?"
Su Lian: "...Those are electric field lines."
Chi Wang: "Pig, you don't even know that? You're so stupid."
Su Lian felt exhausted. Tutoring Chi Wang was difficult enough, and now he had another physics novice with no foundation. It was killing him.
Two hours of lecturing left his throat dry and feeling lifeless, just wanting to stare quietly at the sky.
"Teacher Su, can you check if this is correct?" Chi Wang put aside his usual nonchalance, carefully writing out the problem-solving steps.
This guy might still have hope, Su Lian thought as he leaned over. Their heads almost touching, he pointed at the problem and explained in a low voice.
Gu Anjiu, frustrated by a bunch of positive and negative charges, suddenly looked up, his hand frozen mid-symbol.
The two were so close, Su Lian slightly bent at the knees leaning on the desk, they were almost touching. Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a faint halo around them. The scene looked quite pleasing to the eye.
The tutoring Su Lian was gentler than he'd ever seen before. It was hard to imagine this was the same cool guy known for his fierce punches and few words.
Had the world gone mad?
Gu Anjiu quietly closed his gaping mouth and rolled his chair backwards.
In that moment, the study split in two, and he felt utterly out of place.
Who was he? Where was he? Why was he in this unwelcome place?
"Hmm, I get it now."
"Good, keep going."
Su Lian put down his pen and fixed his gaze on Gu Anjiu, his expression cool and tone indifferent: "Stop daydreaming and do your work."
Another blow to the heart. Gu Anjiu felt the cruel indifference of this uneven world.
As noon approached, Su Lian finally showed mercy and set down the textbook: "Take a half-hour break. We'll continue after lunch."
"Ah, the long march is finally half over." The chubby boy stretched and walked towards the door quite naturally. "Well, I'm going to hang out with Chi Qing for a bit. You two are too boring."
Staying here would probably be like death by a thousand cuts.
With that, he thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
"You've been talking all morning. Aren't you tired?" Chi Wang rolled his neck and lazily leaned back in the swivel chair, handing over a glass of warm water.
"It's not too bad." Su Lian took the glass and sipped slowly, his gaze falling on the earlier problem. "You're not as stupid as I thought."
Chi Wang scrolled through his phone with one hand, smiling as he said, "If you want to compliment me, just say it directly. No need to beat around the bush."
A message popped up at the top of his phone screen. His finger paused slightly, and his joking expression faded: "Teacher Su, we're on pretty good terms, right?"
Su Lian grunted in affirmation, holding the water glass with an impatient "just spit it out" look on his face.
Remembering the previous blocking incident, Chi Wang nervously began: "So if I unknowingly did something wrong, you probably wouldn't get angry, right?"
Su Lian's heart sank. He looked up, thinking that after two peaceful days, he once again had an ominous feeling.
He asked coolly: "What did you do?"
Chi Wang scrolled through his phone, choosing his words carefully: "Well, that day when I slept at your place, I found the bed too small and hard, so I couldn't sleep comfortably. So that day I ordered a double bed online and had it delivered to your house. I was worried your dad wouldn't accept it, so I left my real name."
Su Lian was slightly stunned. He had been sleeping on that bed for over a decade and was used to it. Chi Wang, born with a silver spoon, probably wasn't accustomed to it.
He hadn't expected this young master to be so thoughtful. He said softly, "Thank you."
Seeing that Su Lian's expression was still mild, Chi Wang pressed on.
"Then, coincidentally, they were having a promotion. Purchases over ten thousand had a chance to win a prize, and I won a memory foam mattress."
"That works out perfectly then."
"That's not all. After that, I got a bunch of points and redeemed them for another prize."
"...Are you trying to brag about your luck?"
Chi Wang's gaze wandered, his voice dropping: "No, the new prize was pretty good too. It was a matching four-piece bedding set."
The guy was speaking so slowly, beating around the bush without getting to the point. Su Lian crossed his legs and looked up at him: "So?"
Chi Wang's Adam's apple bobbed as he carefully glanced at Su Lian: "But there wasn't a product image at the time, so I didn't know what it looked like. I just casually told them to pack and send it all together. I just saw the product image the merchant sent... It looks like this."
Su Lian followed the screen and his gaze fell on the enlarged image. A red silk spread was laid out, the quality looked good. However, it was scattered with random rose petals, and embroidered with two mandarin ducks and the golden Chinese character for "double happiness".
The impact was strong, extremely eye-catching, and glaringly obvious.
A double bed, new mattress, and bright red wedding bedding - the whole set was complete.
Su Lian almost choked. Su Huasheng was already suspicious of their relationship, and they had just managed to clear things up the other day.
Now with all these things being delivered, it seemed impossible to explain away the misunderstanding.
Unable to take his eyes off the sea of red, Su Lian asked through gritted teeth: "How could it just happen to be this pattern?"
"At first they asked me about the size, and I said it was for two people to sleep. The customer service probably misunderstood..." Chi Wang paused, his eyes full of innocence.
Clinging to his last shred of hope, Su Lian weakly asked: "It's only been two days, surely it couldn't have arrived so quickly?"
Chi Wang shook his head gravely: "The shipping status shows your dad just signed for it."