Chapter 49 - 2#

Gu Chenzhou smiled slightly and did not answer—the question was actually obvious. It was Lin Fang, who had just answered He Hailou’s call and was always responsible for handling Gu Chenzhou’s affairs.

“This place is not bad, very quiet.” He Hailou did not get to the bottom of it, but continued the previous topic with Gu Chenzhou.

“So at night, I always feel that something will jump out.” Gu Chenzhou replied, and pointed to the courtyard outside the floor-to-ceiling window, “Shall we go out and sit?”

He Hailou agreed and went out with Gu Chenzhou. As he walked, he thought about what Gu Chenzhou had just said, always feeling that there was a hidden meaning in the other’s words—things that would jump out at night, thieves, wild beasts… ghosts?

The last word made He Hailou’s face look strange.

It shouldn’t be, right? He thought, Gu Chenzhou couldn’t possibly… believe this…

A red clay stove for fire, and a lotus leaf pot for tea.

Gu Chenzhou and He Hailou sat cross-legged by the stream, using water from the stone well in the courtyard—this was actually not for decoration! He Hailou’s eyes almost fell out when he saw Gu Chenzhou drawing water—to make tea. The monkey, which had been struggling to breathe with its neck pinched by He Hailou, was finally free. He was tied to a tree by Gu Chenzhou. Since the chain on its body was not broken, it could still jump up and down on the branches at a certain height, communicating with a few small birds that had landed and the squirrels living in the tree.

Gu Chenzhou and He Hailou, sitting by the stone platform, were uncharacteristically not speaking with deep meaning—or perhaps Gu Chenzhou was speaking very casually today, and with the warm sun shining, He Hailou’s expression also became lazy and listless—he hadn’t slept all night, and he was still tired!

“Why did Young Master Gu suddenly come here for a vacation?” He Hailou yawned. The more comfortable the morning sun was, the sleepier he became. In addition, there was a cool breeze from time to time, which made the weather too suitable for sleeping.

“To cultivate my body and mind.” Gu Chenzhou slowly made tea, “Young Master He came to the capital three years ago, so you probably don’t know that I usually go to the mountains for a trip or a short stay every two or three months.”

“Then last time?” He Hailou was referring to their first outdoor activity.

“That time also counts, but before, I was more inclined to travel rather than exercise.” Gu Chenzhou explained. The hiking and camping last time was in line with his habits, but the purpose of inviting He Hailou to go out together was of course not just that. It was more of a decision made for him to understand He Hailou as a person.

He Hailou grunted, squinted at the forest in front of him for a while, then found his thoughts and said, “Just for rest?”

“Just for rest.” Gu Chenzhou answered very affirmatively.

He Hailou laughed: “What makes Young Master Gu feel tired? Drinking, eating? Racing and singing together, or something else?”

Gu Chenzhou smiled faintly, picked up the lid of the cup and skimmed off the tea foam on top. Then he picked up the teapot and poured a cup for He Hailou: “Young Master He, try it, Pu’er tea.”

He Hailou took it and drank a cup, then yawned again, his eyes still staring at the sun in the sky—the slight stinging in his eyes helped him stay awake, but there were too many tears… He closed his eyes for a moment to relieve the stinging and dryness caused by the strong light, and then, his eyelids became a little difficult to open…

Gu Chenzhou followed by pouring himself a cup. He took a sip and was about to speak when he saw He Hailou, who was sitting next to him, fall to the right, his head just hitting his shoulder!

A weight of dozens of pounds suddenly fell. No matter how much he usually practiced, it was useless. The tea in Gu Chenzhou’s hand spilled all over the stone platform. He turned his head to look at He Hailou and found that the other person was completely dazed, just propping himself up and staring at him blankly.

Tired? Drunk?

Gu Chenzhou looked at the dark circles under the other’s eyes and thought about the other’s usual way of playing. He thought to himself that if this continued, he would play himself to death sooner or later—in his current state, it was incredible that he could drive the car up safely.

“Young Master He?” Gu Chenzhou spoke, and at the same time grabbed the other’s arm to steady his somewhat swaying body.

He Hailou responded vaguely, his eyes about to close.

He must be sleepy, and maybe he just finished drinking.

“I’ll take you to rest.” Gu Chenzhou used a little force to pull the person sitting on the ground up and helped him walk towards the guest room.

He Hailou obediently followed Gu Chenzhou, his head nodding down bit by bit, and finally almost leaned his entire body against the other…

This rest was short and long.

He Hailou woke up once in the middle. He found himself lying on a bed, not the red of that room, nor the black of the room he usually lived in, but the color of raw wood. The quilt on his body was not covered, just plain white, as if it had just been dried in the sun, fluffy and warm; then he turned his head and looked out the window. The scenery outside was no longer the unchanging tall buildings, but trees of different heights. Outside the closed glass window, a large insect was still parked…

He Hailou turned over and continued to sleep.

This time, it wasn’t until the golden crow set in the west and the stars filled the sky that he woke up from his deep sleep, smelling the aroma of barbecue.

Once awake, the previous memories flooded back like a tide.

He Hailou remembered that he was drinking tea halfway through, and was too sleepy to talk, so he aimed at Gu Chenzhou’s direction and fell—and sure enough, he fell on him. As a result, Gu Chenzhou was surprisingly good-tempered and didn’t push him to the ground. So he continued to not speak, followed Gu Chenzhou to stand up and walked all the way to the bedroom, trying out holding, hugging, and pressing down one by one on the way…

Tsk, if the road was a little longer and the other person was a little more relaxed, he probably could have really kissed his cheek.

He Hailou thought with great regret, slowly sat up from the bed, straightened the wrinkled clothes on his body, walked down from this bedroom on the second floor following the light. When he reached the floor-to-ceiling window in the corridor on the first floor, he saw that the floor-to-ceiling window was open. In the courtyard, Gu Chenzhou was skewering meat, brushing it with seasoning, and spreading it on the wire rack to barbecue.

The dark night sky enveloped the entire mountaintop. The dense trees became dark green and lush at night. At first glance, they were all shades of gray and black. The barbecue grill placed in the courtyard seemed to be the only light source around. The orange flames danced and illuminated the other’s cheeks. He saw the other raise his head, his smile haloed by the firelight, genuine and gentle:

“You’re up.”

For a moment, He Hailou was in a daze.

Not because of this scene, but because he suddenly found that today’s Gu Chenzhou was completely different from usual—at least to him, completely different.

Was it because of the clues he deliberately leaked to him before? He Hailou walked to Gu Chenzhou’s side and said, “Eating this tonight?”

“Mhm.” Gu Chenzhou responded, gave half of the steel fork to He Hailou, and then leisurely held the remaining part to roast evenly over the fire, “By the way, there.” He pointed to the iron chain under the tree.

He Hailou followed the other’s gesture and saw a slender chain tied to a stone, lying there alone. He paused, and understood that this chain was used to tie the monkey before: “You let it go?” If you let it go, why tie a stone?

“Why should I let it go?” Gu Chenzhou said, “The monkey did it itself.”

He Hailou: “What…”

Gu Chenzhou said: “That monkey is a bit smart… the chain was almost bitten through by it. The reason it didn’t run away before was probably because the surroundings were not its familiar environment?”

“You saw it run away?” He Hailou asked.

Gu Chenzhou nodded.

He Hailou said: “You just watched it run away like that…”

“You want me to climb a tree to catch a monkey for you?” Gu Chenzhou said, “Do you think it’s possible?”

It’s really not possible.

“If it ran, it ran.” Just as He Hailou said this, a black shadow flew down from the sky and hit the back of his head.

He Hailou’s head tilted forward. He hissed in pain, raised his hand to hold his head, and his first reaction was to look in the direction the thing came from—but there was nothing; he looked down at the thing that hit his head—it was an apple.

Is this situation a bit familiar?

Just as He Hailou thought this, a hairless monkey slid down from the tree holding a branch, with a large apple in its claws. It jumped behind Gu Chenzhou, looked at the flaming stove with some fear, and then held the large apple in its hand high up to Gu Chenzhou.

Gu Chenzhou: “…”

“Squeak, squeak squeak!” The monkey chirped twice. Seeing that Gu Chenzhou had not moved, it scratched its ears and cheeks and suddenly brought the apple to its mouth, making a gesture of opening its mouth wide to bite. Then it passed the apple from one claw to the other, and then from the other claw to this claw…

“Holy shit, it’s trying to give you fruit to eat.” Although they were both apples, one was small and one was large, one was thrown down from the sky and hit his head, and one was held by the monkey and steadily handed to someone. He Hailou was so angry that his hands trembled.

Gu Chenzhou glanced at He Hailou, reached out and took the other’s large apple, and then said to the monkey, “Thank you.”

The monkey chirped for a while and then made an eating gesture.

Gu Chenzhou put the apple aside and washed it in the water in the bucket, then took a bite.

“Is it good?” He Hailou asked, and at the same time picked up the apple that had hit him. Although it was a little smaller than Gu Chenzhou’s, it was not a core, and there were no tooth marks on it… It should be said that compared to the beginning, it was still an improvement, right?

“It’s very sweet.” Gu Chenzhou replied, and took another bite.

He Hailou looked at the fruit in his hand, and also walked to Gu Chenzhou’s side. The monkey that was originally behind Gu Chenzhou nimbly jumped onto a branch and made a fierce grimace at He Hailou from a distance.

He Hailou snorted, squatted down, put the apple in his hand into the water to wash it, and then took a bite…

“How is it?” This time it was Gu Chenzhou’s turn to ask.

He Hailou: “…”

Gu Chenzhou: “Hmm?”

…Fuck! It’s so sour I’m going to puke!