Chapter 11#
The Self-Deceiving Liar#
“Why do you always wear that school uniform at home?”
One night, after a round of shameless physical activity, Gu Xi held the young man, whose forehead was soaked with sweat, and asked as he nibbled on his ear: “Do you like the feeling of being a student that much?”
“Actually… not really.” Lin Xiaodong struggled to steady his breathing.
With a slightly flushed face, he reached out, cupped the man’s cheeks, and asked in an intentionally low voice: “Then do you like it?”
“I do.”
Gu Xi’s gaze as he stared at him gradually became dark and gloomy, and his voice was slightly hoarse.
“As long as you like it, I…”
Lin Xiaodong wanted to say something more, but Gu Xi didn’t give him the chance.
The next morning, Lin Xiaodong, exhausted from the night before, was still in a deep sleep when he heard a burst of loud, intense knocking on the door outside.
“Who is it? So early in the morning…”
Lin Xiaodong grumbled impatiently, rubbing his eyes as he got out of bed.
Because he was so sleepy, he didn’t even bother to put on shoes and just walked downstairs barefoot.
Looking up, the person knocking was actually Lin Xiamian.
Lin Xiaodong stood at the door, curled his lip, and gave his cheap younger brother a very perfunctory smile: “Xiamian, when did you get back? Why didn’t you give me a call?”
Lin Xiamian stared at him fixedly, his eyes slowly turning red.
Lin Xiaodong: Ah, this trick again.
“Brother,” as expected, the youth began to question him in a tearful voice, “Why aren’t you coming home?”
“I recall leaving you a note,” Lin Xiaodong yawned expressionlessly. Having gone to bed so late yesterday, he still wanted to go back and catch some more sleep. “You came over just for this? If there’s nothing else, I’m going back upstairs to sleep.”
“Brother!”
Seeing this, Lin Xiamian immediately got anxious and stepped forward to grab his wrist: “Why did you move out to live here? Do you dislike me now?”
“Yes.”
“…………” Lin Xiamian stared at him with a wooden face. After a long while, he asked softly, “Brother, what did you just say?”
The youth in front of him, still wearing SpongeBob pajamas, blinked and gave him a gentle smile.
“Just a joke.” He reached out and straightened the stray hairs on Lin Xiamian’s forehead, his intimate gesture as usual.
Only then did Lin Xiamian slowly relax.
His gaze moved past Lin Xiaodong, scanning the display in the living room. Looking at the expensive sculptures and art paintings filling the room behind the youth, he suddenly had an ominous premonition.
And that premonition became reality when he saw the SpongeBob couple mugs sitting on the table.
“…You aren’t living alone?”
Seeing Lin Xiaodong nod, Lin Xiamian’s eyes truly turned red this time. Forcing down the overwhelming jealousy and anger within him, he tried to squeeze out a stiff smile: “Who is it? Brother, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Gu Xi.”
“…Who?” Lin Xiamian thought he had misheard.
Lin Xiaodong picked his ear with his pinky: “Gu Xi. Haven’t you eaten with him before?”
Lin Xiamian was stunned for a full ten seconds before realizing that Lin Xiaodong really wasn’t joking with him.
“Brother,” he took a deep breath, his voice sounding a bit shaky, “You told me back then to stay far away from people like that!”
“Did he really say that?”
Gu Xi, carrying breakfast, heard this sentence as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. He gave an ambiguous smile, glanced at the youth with shifting eyes, and said to them: “What are you both standing at the door for? Come into the living room and sit.”
As if he didn’t feel the strange atmosphere between the brothers, he set down the breakfast he was carrying, handed a portion to Lin Xiaodong, and then went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water for Lin Xiamian: “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to come.”
Lin Xiamian took the water glass with a stiff face and said a reluctant “thank you.”
The three of them fell into silence for a moment.
The atmosphere was very awkward.
Lin Xiamian took a sip and couldn’t wait to set down the glass. He watched Lin Xiaodong and Gu Xi sitting side-by-side opposite him, appearing intimate and natural, as if they were the real family.
The moment this thought popped up, he clenched his fingers in an unbearable grip.
Seeming to notice Lin Xiamian’s low spirits, Gu Xi began to ask him some questions about his studies. Although he frantically wanted to skin the man in front of him alive, for Lin Xiaodong’s sake, Lin Xiamian still hung his head and barely answered.
At first glance, the two of them seemed to be chatting happily.
System: “Is it okay to just watch like this?”
“What does it matter,” Lin Xiaodong said indifferently. “Anyway, he’s the big boss’s white moonlight. Even if I try to stop them, they’ll end up together sooner or later. I just need to keep to my duty as a substitute.”
Look at Lin Xiamian—he speaks without even lifting his head, only answering two out of three sentences, yet Gu Xi still has the patience to find topics to chat with him.
Unlike him, who at the beginning had to constantly watch his step, not only risking his life but also having his salary docked by the big boss if he wasn’t careful.
“The one who is favored is always fearless,” he lamented. “It truly is the truth.”
The youth bit on a deep-fried dough stick with a bored expression. Before long, he let out two consecutive yawns and began to doze off against the sofa.
“What time is it? How can you be sleepy already?”
Gu Xi tilted his head to look at him, his expression quite helpless.
“It’s because you were up too late yesterday…” Lin Xiaodong grumbled. The hidden meaning in his words once again fiercely stimulated Lin Xiamian beside them. He finally couldn’t hold back and stood up, saying to Gu Xi: “Excuse me, but I came today to take my brother home.”
The movement of the man’s hand paused.
He looked up at Lin Xiamian, said nothing, but just looked calmly at Lin Xiaodong: “Are you going?”
“No,” Lin Xiaodong opened his eyes. “I’m living perfectly well here. Why should I go?”
“But Brother, I…”
“Xiamian,” the youth hugged the throw pillow in his arms, leaning crookedly against the sofa, looking at him with half-closed eyes, his posture as lazy as a cat that had just woken up. “You’ve grown up, and I can’t stay with you for a lifetime. I’ve already heard about your summer camp results from the teacher. Congratulations on getting into university.”
Lin Xiamian opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more, but Lin Xiaodong interrupted him: “I’ve left the bank card account number and password in the usual place. There’s two hundred thousand inside, enough for you to use for university.”
After saying that, he let out another big yawn and went upstairs to sleep, hugging his pillow.
Why should he stick his nose into the private world of the big boss and his white moonlight?
Lin Xiamian stood in place, staring blankly at the youth’s retreating figure as he disappeared on the second floor, his mind filled with one sentence:
He doesn’t want me anymore.
Gu Xi watched Lin Xiamian’s grief-stricken appearance, narrowing his eyes slightly, his expression thoughtful.
When Lin Xiaodong woke up, it was already afternoon.
By the time he went downstairs, Lin Xiamian had long since left, while Gu Xi was still sitting in the living room reading a book. Lin Xiaodong thought to himself that he was always reading, not knowing what book could be that interesting.
But on second thought, he had an idea to play a prank.
Lin Xiaodong tiptoed behind the man and suddenly reached out to snatch the book from his hand. But it was as if Gu Xi had eyes in the back of his head; one hand firmly grabbed his wrist and, with a bit of strength, pulled him into his arms.
“Ouch!”
The sudden inversion of his field of vision made Lin Xiaodong’s heart skip a beat in fright. By the time he reacted, he was already being held in Gu Xi’s arms, his own arms around the other’s neck. He subconsciously looked up, just in time to meet Gu Xi’s gaze. The man’s dark eyes held a hint of a hidden smile, clearly showing he was prepared.
Lin Xiaodong immediately grit his teeth: “You did it on purpose?”
“You provoked me first,” Gu Xi said indifferently, and even reached out to tickle the youth’s armpit. Lin Xiaodong laughed until tears almost came out, and in the end, he got so angry he bit the man’s finger.
Gu Xi pinched him: “Tsk, the little cat is biting.”
“Why a cat?” Lin Xiaodong couldn’t be bothered to argue with his teasing expression and couldn’t help but ask: “I thought you would say a puppy or something.”
“Because I’ve only ever raised a cat.”
“…Raised one?”
“It died,” Gu Xi said casually. “It was a wild cat I brought back from outside. It was too restless and always liked to run away. When I finally found it, it was already stiff.”
“I see,” Lin Xiaodong lamented. “But wild cats are like that; they can’t be tamed.”
Gu Xi’s lips moved.
Actually, there was one more thing he hadn’t told Lin Xiaodong.
After that cat died, he never raised any more pets.
Because Gu Xi didn’t understand why it would rather give up expensive cat food, clean water, and a warm, comfortable bed to go through all kinds of trouble to escape to the outside world and live a vagrant life exposed to the elements and without enough to eat.
He had already done his best, but it still wouldn’t stay for him.
Lin Xiaodong didn’t know what he was thinking. Humming a song, he leaned in Gu Xi’s arms, opened a bag of potato chips, and turned on the TV.
While he was engrossed in watching, he suddenly heard the man beside him ask:
“Do you want to come home with me and see?”
“What?”
He didn’t react for a moment. But with the system’s reminder, Lin Xiaodong finally realized what Gu Xi had just said to him. He straightened up in surprise to look at the other person, thinking that in the original world line, even if “he” risked his life for him, Gu Xi never proposed taking him home. Why did he suddenly agree now?
“The Gu family’s main residence is quite large,” Gu Xi explained patiently to dispel his concerns. “That way, you can also bring your brother over to live together.”
Lin Xiaodong understood.
After all that, he thought, it’s still for the sake of the white moonlight.