After Running Away With a Cub, I Became Everyone’s Favourite - Chapter 33

Xia Qinshu loves me.

“Water is the source of all things, water can carry a boat and also overturn a boat, water gives birth to all things, the highest good is like water…..” Xia Qing Shu shook his head and recited the poem, his analysis as fierce as a tiger.

“Although the word water has only three strokes, the meaning it contains is all-encompassing.”

“Water can give birth to all things, so I think if we call him ‘Shui Xi, then he can have as many sons as youwant, right?”

“Auntie, do you think I’m right?”

“Auntie, you speak ah ……”

Xia Qing Shu spoke slowly and leisurely, with soft words and a delicate voice, completely unrelated to the words “aggressive” and “yin and yang strange”.

His pair of beautiful eyes are wide open, eyes are sincere, to Chen’s mother; cute and serious.

But it was the “dry cleaning” theory almost made Chen’s mother lose her tongue.

Chen’s mother: “…..”

Can’t find a way to get angry.  Xia Qingshu looks dumb, he talks in a rambling way, like he’s talking nonsense, but his attitude is good, his expression sincere, and the most bizarre thing is that when you look at his words, you can find a hint of truth in the confusing logic. When you chew on it, it does seem that ” Shuixi” was a lot better than “Luixi”.

It felt very suffocating.

Chen Zhiyu was lying in bed on a video call with Secretary Li, when he heard Xia Qingshu seriously discuss with his mother and finally changed his name to “Brother Shuixi “, he did not feel offended, but could not help but laugh out loud.

His mother, who had been hunting geese all day, had been pecked by them.

Secretary Li was on the other side of the computer reporting to his boss on a serious matter when he heard Xia Qing Shu’s voice and then saw his boss smiling. The smile on the boss’s face was even wider than the last time he reported that the company’s market value had doubled.

In the end, the boss couldn’t stop laughing and put his phone back onto the table.

Secretary Li was greatly shocked.

At this moment, Secretary Li felt like a butler in those novels, he especially wanted to say to Xia Qingshu that “Young Master Xia, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my boss smile so happily.”

Chen Zhiyu didn’t notice Secretary Li’s strange appearance, turned the video call off and turned his head, “Mum, you must have been tricked.”

Chen’s mother argued loudly, “How is that possible? This master is very famous, he doesn’t receive payment, he only ferries those who have a destiny, I’ve waited for most of the year, it was so hard to get him here.”

Chen Zhiyu questioned in a cold voice, “No payment?”

Chen’s mother whispered, “….. Just a small donation of incense money.”

Chen Zhiyu snorted.

When she said “a little”, it was certainly not less. His mother has been tossing around this matter for the past two years.

Mother Chen’ eyes slipped around Xia Qingshu, and she said, “I think this master is very effective, and my son’s affairs are absolutely certain.”

Xia Qingshu’s body was tilted to the side, and he pulled down the hem of his shirt to cover his stomach, asking weakly, “Auntie, should I still call him Brother Luixi?”

“You call him that first, I’ll ask later.” Chen’s mother glanced at him and said with a puff of exasperation, “Each word looks okay separately, why is it so weird together.”

Xia Qing Shu found it a little strange that Chen’s mother’s gaze kept falling on him today, occasionally glancing at a certain part of his body for a moment or two before darting away again.

“Zhi… Luixi, mum has made some old fire soup today, you can have some.” Chen’s mother opened the thermos bucket she carried with her, took out a bowl, washed it and poured it on, and put a bowl in front of Chen Zhiyu.

She poured two bowls of soup, one for Chen Zhiyu and one in front of Xia Qing Shu, “Xia, you’ve worked hard to take care of the Luixi, have a bowl too.”

Xia Qing Shu glanced at the soup bowls and did not reach out.

“Xia Qing Shu, although the bowl containing the soup is Yuan Qing Hua, a set worth several millions, but our family has plenty of such porcelain, don’t have too much mental burden, just hold it and drink.”

Xia Qingshu: “……”

Chen’s mother was still looking at him with hostility yesterday, but today’s eyes were strange. The hostility in her eyes was less by half and there was more probing, suspicion and a hint of indefinable and bewildering joy. The old woman looked like she had no good intentions.

Xia Qingshu took the multi-million dollar yuan celadon bowl and pinched the little spoon to stir the creamy white soup.

“That little spoon alone is worth tens of thousands too.” Chen’s mother pointed to the porcelain spoon in Xia Qingshu’s hand and said, “There are only three sets of this Guiguzi descending from the mountain, one set is in our house, and the remaining two sets are displayed in the museum, so you can’t buy them even if you have money.”

Xia Qing Shu: “……”

Damn, she’s at it again!

In his mind, he silently thought, “You are capitalists, they have the power to show off. Hearing a capitalist bragging is also considered like a knife slap on the buttocks and an eye opener.

Xia Qing Shu held the bowl and took small sips of the soup.

He didn’t know if it was because of the Yuan Qing Hua, or purely because the capitalist had chosen high-end ingredients, the soup smelt particularly mellow and fragrant, with two swollen wolf berries floating on the snow-white broth, full of color.

In the mouth, a light chicken flavour swirls between the lips and teeth, stimulating the entire taste buds, with a long, fragrant aftertaste.

Delicious.

Xia Qingshu squeezed several tens of thousands of small spoons and finished the soup. As he drank the soup, an evil thought suddenly rose in his mind –

If he gave birth to a son, wouldn’t all these valuable antique, quadrangle company villas that Mama Chen was showing off be his son’s in the future? As long as he gave birth to the child ……Brother Zhiyu’s original destiny was to have no children……

No, stop stop stop!!! What are you thinking about, getting drunk on soup? You’re drifting because you’re holding a Yuan Qing Hua? Is this the kind of thinking a transmigrator who has only seen women give birth should have?!

When Chen’s mother saw him finish the soup, she snatched the bowl from his hand and filled another bowl for him, “Young man, you look so thin, like you’ve fled from Africa, you don’t even have a few teals of meat on you, have a few more bowls of soup.”

Xia Qing Shu took the soup and drank it in one gulp.

After Chen Zhiyu finished his soup, the empty bowl was placed on the bedside table. Mother Chen gave Xia Qingshu five bowls in a row before she contentedly put the Yuan Qing Hua away.

“I’ll go and ask the master about the name.” After Mama Chen finished speaking, she put away the soup bowls and the thermos and left in a blaze of glory.

After Mama Chen left, Xia Qingshu was instead a little unsure of what to do. He felt a little awkward being alone with Chen Zhiyu.

He hunkered down on the sofa and opened his mobile phone, flipping through it aimlessly, without any of the positive energy to repay his gratitude as he had last night.

When Xia Qing Shu tried to find an excuse to leave, He Chen came. Holding a bouquet of flowers, He Chen pushed his way through the door.

“Brother Zhiyu, are you better?” He came in and gave a quick sweep to see Xia Qingshu sitting on the sofa, reaching up to stretch the folds of the hem of his shirt.

After greeting Chen Zhiyu, he moved to the edge of the sofa seemingly unintentional.

Xia Qing Shu was in a daze when he was suddenly hit by a bouquet of flowers in front of him, he didn’t think much of it and took it naturally. He looked down and saw that it was a large bouquet of red roses.

The Chen family’s friends and relatives liked to send flowers to their patients, and there were many bouquets placed in the corners of the room, with lilies, carnations and gladiolus being the majority. This large bouquet of red roses stood out in a clump of lightly colored flowers.

The red roses, wrapped in black wrapping paper, had a red ribbon tied around the handle. It didn’t look like something for a patient, how it looked like something for a lover.

Xia Qing Shu glanced at He Chen and found that the other party’s expression was not quite natural.

Could he have triggered the “hidden” CP plot of the novel? There was a very unusual setting in the novel, but it had long deviated from the plot by now…….

“Ohhh!”

Xia Qing Shu’s gaze towards He Chen and Chen Zhiyu was gradually clouded with a pink filters.

The roses were fresh, the bright red petals still had dew drops on them, and Xia Qing Shu couldn’t help but come closer and smell them. The faint smell of roses was quite fragrant. Like love.

Xia Qing Shu pulled his head out of the bouquet of roses, and when he looked up, he saw He Chen brushing up his bangs in front of his forehead, and lifting his eyelids at him. He was not very skilled at lifting his eyelids, and to Xia Qing Shu, it looked like his eyes were twitching with irritation.

Xia Qing Shu: I wonder if this guy’s eyes are not suffering from any serious illness.

Holding the roses, he walked straight to Chen Zhiyu’s bedside, put the flowers on the bedside table by the bed, and whispered, “Brother, He Chen gave you the roses.”

Chen Zhiyu pinched a rose, saved the petals in his hand and slowly crumbled them. He sat on the hospital bed, but with a sense of looking down from above, “Sam, you can’t give roses when visiting a patient, it’s basic common sense.”

Although He Chen and Chen Zhiyu were cousins, they didn’t usually have much contact; Chen Zhiyu had always been a role model among their peers and had always been what his mother called someone else’s child.

He grew up watching Chen Zhiyu being praised by adults, and at one point he thought that this cousin, who was only six years older than him, was the Monkey King descending from the heavens and was all-powerful. He had a special kind of awe for Chen Zhiyu, always feeling that he was not quite like them, his peers.

He Chen pinched his fingers and whispered in defence, “Brother, the florist only had this bouquet left, I saw it was quite nice, so I bought it.”

Watching school bully He Chen behave like a quail in front of Chen Zhiyu and explain seriously, Xia Qing Shu inwardly exclaimed wow. He had guessed it right!

Xia Qing Shu stood by the side with a honeyed smile on the corner of his mouth. He had grown up following the rules, either taking classes or practicing the piano and studying acting after school, and had hardly ever read a few films, movies or extracurricular books that went beyond moral restraint. Now that he had encountered it in person, he was so excited that he wanted to rub his little hands together a little.

“Now that you know you’ve bought the wrong one, throw it out.” The petals in his hand had been crumbled, the red juice staining his fingers, and Chen Zhiyu tossed them gently, scattering them to the ground.

From the moment He Chen entered the door, Chen Zhiyu noticed that He Chen’s gaze had been, if anything, following Xia Qing Shu. The roses were also placed directly into Xia Qing Shu’s arms. What the rash boy was thinking, he could tell at a glance.

His tone was a little cold, with a command that could not be denied.

Xia Qing Shu closed his eyes and shook his head, He Chen this is rejected.

The ‘hidden CP’ drama is still a BE afterall.

Seeing the roses being destroyed, He Chen was a bit intolerant, he raised his eyes to look at Chen Zhiyu and took the bouquet back slowly, “Brother, such a good flower, it’s a pity to throw it away, Xia Qing Shu, what do you think?”

Xia Qing Shu was suddenly cued, a bit unconscious, nodded blankly, “It’s quite a pity.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, He Chen stuffed the rose bouquet into his arms.

“Send to you.”

Xia Qingshu was a little confused, holding the flower and standing confusedly in place.

Chen Zhiyu took one look at the still dewy, delicate rose and his face felt like a layer of ice had melted.

“Qing Shu, I’m allergic to roses.”

Xia Qingshu came back to his senses, “Oh, I’ll take them away then.”

He gave He Chen a pitying look and picked up the handful of roses that had not been given away. It wasn’t very nice to put it in the aisle, it wasn’t very polite to throw it in the trash in front of He Chen, so he thought about it and simply put it in his own guest room.

He Chen wrinkled his nose and followed after Xia Qing Shu: “This room ……”

Xia Qing Shu: “This room is for me to sleep in.”

He Chen’s eyebrows relaxed, “I think it’s good to put them in this room.”

“Qing Shu, take it to the nurse’s station, I can’t stand it.” Chen Zhiyu finished and snorted with genuine emotion.

“Then I’ll put it in the nurses’ station, it’d be nice to give it to the nurse lady.”

There were so many flowers put at the nurses’ station, all from the patients. And there were enough flowers piled up on the floor of the room, it didn’t matter if there was one more bunch.

Xia Qing Shu hugged the flowers and opened the door to prepare to go to the nurses’ station. The door opened and before Xia Qingshu’s feet had time to step out, He Chen snatched the roses back and hugged them in his arms, then looked at Chen Zhiyu with a puzzled expression.

Chen Zhiyu said coldly, “Ahchen, if you know you’re wrong, you have to correct it.”

He Chen clenched his fist and hugged the flowers a little tighter, “I heard from my aunt that brother is opening a dry cleaning shop, this bouquet of flowers is fine for celebrating brother’s opening.”

“There is no dry-cleaning shop, you heard wrong.”

“How can that be, Auntie clearly said in the group that it was dry cleaning.”

The two seemed to have a normal and ordinary exchange, Chen Zhiyu had a strong tone, He Chen was slightly weaker but insisted that he refused to throw the flowers.

Xia Qingshu, however, felt as if an invisible sword shadow filled the air between them, with a hint of gunpowder mixed in. Although the tone was normal, there was something indescribably incongruous about it. Not at all like normal cousins.

Even less like a CP.

Xia Qingshu couldn’t figure out what kind of brotherly love they had for each other, and interrupted out loud, “It’s not like that, it’s Brother Zhiyu who changed his name and Is now called the Luixi. It’s not a dry cleaning business, come here, I’ll write it down for you.”

Xia Qing Shu typed the word “Luixi” on his mobile phone and handed it to He Chen.

He Chen smiled as if he had suddenly understood, and he called out “Luixi” as if he were a good person.

“Brother Luixu, I wish you a happy and prosperous life.” He Chen said, “Since you don’t like the flowers, I’ll give them to someone who does.”

He Chen turned his hand and put the flower into Xia Qing Shu’s arms again, “You take it, Xia Qing Shu.”

It was the first time in Xia Qing Shu’s two lives that he had received such a large bouquet of roses, but it was a second-hand item that someone else who didn’t want it.

He didn’t really want them either.

Xia Qing Shu held the flowers and was a little embarrassed.

Chen Zhiyu was not in a big hurry. Xia Qing Shu just looked like he was having a hard time, and since Xia Qing Shu loved him so much, how could he possibly accept roses from He Chen.

But this little fool looked dumb and didn’t know how to refuse, so he was happy to give him a hand: “Qing Shu, don’t refuse.”

Sure enough, Xia Qingshu returned the rose sharply and refused in a small voice, “I don’t want it.”

The corners of Chen Zhiyu’s mouth curled up in a clear, shallow amplitude, like a general who had won a battle.

He Chen was angry as he held the flowers and stared at Xia Qing Shu mournfully, like a puppy dog that had been abandoned.

Xia Qing Shu felt that his eyes were a bit piercing, just then, a nurse asked him go over to get the medicine. Xia Qing Shu followed the nurse lady and happily slipped away.

After Xia Qing Shu went out, He Chen sat down on the sofa and sullenly played with his mobile phone. Chen Zhiyu sat on the hospital bed with his laptop open and worked. After a while, he had a phone call, the other side of the phone was urging him to go over, he was a bit annoyed and pushed the phone down.

“Why aren’t you leaving yet?” Chen Zhiyu was attracted by the sound of the phone and lifted his head, having the displeasure of having his work interrupted.

“Brother,” He Chen switched off his phone and darted a glance at Chen Zhiyu. He didn’t dare to look at Chen Zhiyu, there was a sense of oppression when he looked at him, “Brother, I heard that you saved Xia Qing Shu, why did you save him?”

Chen Zhiyu said indifferently, “Do I look like someone who wants to see death?”

He Chen sat down on the sofa in a big way, spread his legs and put one hand on his cheek as he asked, “No, I’m just curious, how did you save someone so coincidentally, and when you did so, you injured yourself?”

Chen Zhiyu didn’t answer him and asked in return, “Why are you asking so much?”

He Chen bristled and scratched his hair a little irritably, “Nothing, just asking casually.”

“Are you and Xia Qing Shu close?”

“Average, we’re in the same dorm.” He took a deep breath and leaned back on the sofa, looking into Chen Zhiyu’s eyes, “Brother, I haven’t seen you being so particular about anyone before.”

He Chen usually dressed like a hipster, wearing clothes one size too big and somewhat hipster-ish. Today he wore a polo shirt with a collar and a pair of leather shoes, looking a little more mature and somewhat formal, different from his usual style.

Thinking about the bouquet of roses again, Chen Zhiyu asked, “You like Xia Qing Shu?”

His relationship with He Chen was only average, but he also knew that He Chen had another person he liked, a senior in his school. He had liked him for several years and was quite infatuated with him, and the adults in his family knew about it and did not support nor oppose it.

He was only asking tentatively, after all it was the first time he had seen He Chen so insistent on the ownership of a bouquet of roses. And the way he looked at Xia Qing Shu, even a blind man would know there was something wrong.

Hearing this question, He Chen was like a cat with fried hair, loudly brushing it off, “He’s so silly, how could I possibly like him?”

Chen Zhiyu was puzzled, “Then what are you doing here with me?”

He Chen was dumbfounded by the question and was silent for a long time before he turned his neck and said, “I’m purely upset for Xia Qing Shu!”

“Brother, you are to have a son, and you are destined to have no future with Qing Shu.” He Chen said, “Qing Shu is a bit stupid, but his heart is true and sincere, I just pity him and want to help him.”

“You’re really kind.” Chen Zhiyu sneered, “Who the hell told you I must have a son?!”

“If you don’t want to have a son, then don’t have a son, why are you so fierce?” After muttering in a low voice, He Chen plucked up the courage to say, “Brother, you allow Xia Qing Shu to be by your side, so what are your thoughts, do you like him?”

Chen Zhiyu was silent.

It has always been others who were tempted by him, and he is naturally immobile. He had always firmly believed that Xia Qingshu liked him, and he had never thought about the question of “should I like Xia Qingshu back?”

During this time, he spent a lot of time with Xia Qing Shu and was very comfortable with him. Sometimes, he even looked forward to his arrival. Chen Zhiyu was silent for so long that He Chen thought he had his answer, “Brother, since you don’t like him, please leave him alone.”

Xia Qing Shu walked to the door and heard the two men talking about his relationship problems. He was not surprised to hear both of them denying their liking for him, after all, these two were very disgusted with him at first and now that things had improved, Xia Qing Shu could still feel the arrogance in their bones.

Chen Zhiyu’s was the kind of arrogance that comes with being born in a high position, He Chen’s arrogance was a combination of his family’s superiority and his middle-school age, slightly different from Chen Zhiyu’s arrogance.

These two, with their many suitors, would never like someone like him. What made him wonder, though, was how these two could care who he liked when they didn’t even like him.

Was it possible that in this world, “licking dogs” was a scarce product that everyone competed to have?

Strange.

Xia Qing Shu moved closer to the door and continued to listen.

After He Chen finished, he looked straight at Chen Zhiyu.

Chen Zhiyu asked rhetorically, “What do you mean by that?”

He Chen bristled, blowing up on the the bangs on his forehead with a kind -of determination, “What I mean is, if you don’t like him, can you stay away from him?”

“He likes me, he came to me of his own accord, I don’t have the power to sway his mind. That’s something you should say to him.”

The meaning of this statement was clear – Xia Qing Shu liked him, and he could not control it.

Despite his bottom line, hearing He Chen’s words, Chen Zhiyu was a little annoyed. He was a man who had faced tens of billions of dollars in capital negotiations without changing his face and was as calm as a windless lake, but hearing He Chen’s unreasonable request, it was surprising that his heart would rise and fall.

Chen Zhiyu maintained his usual cold demeanor and said indifferently, “And, who he likes is none of your business.”

Then there was a clang and the sound of something heavy falling from the ward. Xia Qing Shu was surprised for two seconds. These two quality men were going to fight over him, a “licking dog”?

The reason was also very strange, neither of them liked him, but they cared about his liking. Xia Qing Shu scratched his head, a little confused, and couldn’t figure out what was going on. Although Chen Zhiyu looked quite tall and sturdy, his leg was injured. Xia Qingshu was worried that he would suffer a loss and hurriedly opened the door to enter.

There was no fight between the two men. He Chen was looking out of the window with his back to Chen Zhiyu, who was lying on the hospital bed looking at a tablet, and there was a smashed cup in the centre of the room.

Xia Qingshu glanced at the two men, both of whom did not look too good and did not look very keen to communicate. He picked up a broom and swept the broken glass away.

Only after sweeping up the broken glass did Xia Qing Shu notice that He Chen’s eyes were red. After standing alone for a long time, He Chen huffed and grabbed the apples on the table and rushed into the toilet.

After washing the apples clean, he picked up a fruit knife and sat on the sofa to peel them.

He Chen was very unskilled at peeling, and instead of staring at the apple, he stared straight at Chen Zhiyu.

There were times when Xia Qing Shu was worried that he would chop off his own fingers.

Under He Chen’s poor knife skills, the skin of the apple was peeled and not much flesh was left.

After peeling, He Chen forced the peeled apple into Xia Qing Shu’s hand, “Eat the apple.”

Chen Zhiyu lay on the hospital bed, a hand raised to grab a loquat in the basket on the bedside table, wiped it clean with a disinfectant wet paper towel, then peeled the skin and handed it to Xia Qing Shu after peeling it, “Eat the loquat.”

The two of them had a hot look in their eyes, like 105-degree fire sticks, the kind that would squeak and smoke if you poured some water on them, very hardcore.

It felt like it meant, he likes whoever’s fruit he chose to eat first.

Are you two primary schools kids?

Childish!