Chapter 39: The Consequences Will Be Very Severe

The seafood restaurant was open not far from the beach. A wooden signboard hung at the entrance, and warm yellow light spilled out through the glass windows. Mixed with the aroma of minced garlic wafting in the air, just smelling it was enough to make one’s index finger twitch with appetite.

The two chose a window seat and sat down. Outside the window was the heavy night color and the faintly gleaming sea surface.

Lu Zhiyan took the menu and familiarly checked off a few dishes—steamed scallops with minced garlic and vermicelli, boiled shrimp, steamed sea bass, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a serving of seafood porridge. All were dishes Shen Yu loved to eat, light and mild.

“Aren’t you going to order something spicy?”

Shen Yu softly asked a question. Lu Zhiyan turned his head to look at him, his heart aching, and his fingertips trembling slightly.

He remembered back when he was studying for his master’s degree. Shen Yu had returned to Beicheng, relying on his excellent grades to obtain the qualification for direct admission to a doctoral program at the top-tier Qing University. With both of them in the same city, the opportunities to meet naturally increased, and they would occasionally eat together.

At that time, he discovered that Shen Yu’s stomach had become extremely fragile. Yet, not knowing the reason why, he still always made Shen Yu accompany him to eat things heavy in oil and spice. Later, there was one time when Shen Yu was in so much pain he couldn’t even straighten his waist, yet he merely endured it silently, never uttering half a sentence of complaint.

“No, let’s eat something light, something you like.”

He spoke softly, his eyes full of doting gentleness, looking until the roots of Shen Yu’s ears quietly dyed with a thread of thin red once again.

The dishes were quickly brought out, and the steaming hot aroma blew against their faces. Lu Zhiyan picked up a shrimp, carefully peeled the shell, and handed it to Shen Yu’s mouth, the depths of his eyes carrying an irrefutable smile:

“Open your mouth.”

Shen Yu was stunned for a moment, but still obediently opened his mouth. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] The fresh sweetness of the shrimp meat spread on the tip of his tongue, warm and comforting.

He watched Lu Zhiyan lower his head again to peel shrimp for him. His agile fingertips shedding the shrimp shells, his movements patient and meticulous. His heart felt as if it had been filled up by something, softening into an absolute mess.

“Eat more.”

Lu Zhiyan placed the peeled shrimp into his bowl, then scooped a bowl of seafood porridge and pushed it over, “This porridge nourishes the stomach, drink a couple more bowls.”

Shen Yu drank two mouthfuls of porridge. His stomach felt warm and extremely comfortable. He looked at the bowl piled full of shrimp and couldn’t help but smile:

“It’s enough, it’s enough, I really can’t eat anymore.”

Lu Zhiyan raised an eyebrow. Wiping his hands with a tissue, he leaned his body slightly forward. His gaze first fell on the smooth lines of his waist and abdomen, then he raised his eyes with a bit of teasing and smiled:

“Even if you can’t eat anymore, you have to eat.”

Saying this, he reached out, his fingertips gently tracing past the side of Shen Yu’s waist, provoking Shen Yu to tremble slightly. He lowered his voice a bit more, carrying a bit of ambiguous hoarseness, slipping word by word into Shen Yu’s ear:

“I don’t like it too thin. That way… the waist doesn’t have enough power.”

Shen Yu froze slightly, the roots of his ears instantly flushing completely red. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He hurriedly raised his eyes and cast a glance around them. Fortunately, the customers at the neighboring tables were all looking down and eating their food; no one noticed this side.

He let out a slight sigh of relief, raised his foot, and gently kicked the edge of Lu Zhiyan’s shoe. The force wasn’t great, yet it revealed a faint sense of coquettishness.

Lu Zhiyan let out a low chuckle, only feeling that the person before his eyes was incredibly cute. Only with great difficulty did he forcefully suppress the urge to kiss him fiercely rising from the bottom of his heart. Extending his leg under the table, he slowly hooked onto Shen Yu’s, gently rubbing against it through their pants, provoking that person’s Adam’s apple to bob violently.

He looked at Shen Yu’s flustered yet unable-to-refuse appearance, his heart softening into an absolute mess. Only then was he willing to let him off gently. Picking up his chopsticks, he smiled warmly:

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Eat first, eat however much you can, it doesn’t matter if you really can’t finish it.”

As soon as the voice fell, as if suddenly remembering something, he quickly leaned close to Shen Yu’s ear and spoke in a low voice only the two of them could hear:

“Whether you are thin or fat, I like it all.”

After speaking, he immediately pulled back, pretending that nothing had happened. He lowered his head to eat his food, but the corner of his eye quietly peeked at Shen Yu. He saw that person stay stunned for a moment before picking up his chopsticks again.

The first bite of food was still placed into his bowl first. The sweetness at the bottom of his heart almost overflowed, and the smile at the corners of his mouth couldn’t be suppressed no matter how hard he tried.

Without hesitation, he opened his mouth, picked up the fish meat Shen Yu had just put into his bowl, and chewed it meticulously. He only felt that between his lips and teeth, there was entirely fresh, tender, and gentle sweetness.

The meal was eaten warmly and ambiguously. When it was time to pay the bill, Shen Yu scrambled to stand up first, but was grabbed by the wrist by Lu Zhiyan.

“I’ll do it.”

Lu Zhiyan looked at him, his tone unquestionable.

“No way.”

Shen Yu frowned, attempting to break free from his hand, “You came to my place, how can I always let you pay.”

“I am happy to do it.”

Lu Zhiyan’s voice was very light, yet it carried a bit of irrefutable dominance. Not waiting for Shen Yu to say anything more, he quickly walked to the cash register, pulled out his wallet to pay the bill, his movements crisp and neat.

Shen Yu looked at his back figure and didn’t insist anymore, feeling both helpless and warm in his heart. He knew Lu Zhiyan’s temper; things he decided upon would never be easily changed.

When walking out of the seafood restaurant, the night color was already deep. The sea breeze wrapped in salty dampness blew against their faces, carrying a bit of chill. Both hands stuffed in his pockets, Lu Zhiyan deliberately leaned close to Shen Yu’s side, his arm pressing tightly against his.

The two walked slowly along the path by the sea. The streetlights stretched their shadows very, very long, overlapping together, as if they could never be separated again.

Lu Zhiyan deliberately pretended to speak casually, chatting about some trivial matters of his at school, chatting about his experiences and what he saw and heard on the train ride all the way over, chatting boundlessly.

It wasn’t until they walked into a shadow unreached by the streetlights that he suddenly stopped his footsteps. Turning his head to look at Shen Yu, his voice grew softer:

“By the way, do you usually… lack money?”

Shen Yu was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, his tone flat:

“I don’t lack it. Besides, I also do part-time jobs, it’s enough to use.”

Part-time jobs?

Hearing these two words, Lu Zhiyan’s heart felt as if it had been ruthlessly gripped by something, instantly sinking.

Memories surged over. That nightclub, that alley, that hotel room… like ice-quenched knives, ruthlessly stabbing into his heart, hurting until he was about to suffocate.

In the past, he knew nothing. He only felt that Shen Yu being good to him was natural and right, only felt that he was silent and passive, not understanding romance. It wasn’t until Shen Yu left, until he experienced several unforgettable time travels, that he knew Shen Yu had already ground himself into ashes for his sake.

This time, he would absolutely not allow that kind of thing to happen again.

At this thought, Lu Zhiyan’s hand stuffed in his pants pocket subconsciously clenched tight. He raised his eyes to look into Shen Yu’s eyes, his gaze carrying a bit of imperceptible nervousness:

“What part-time job? Is it tiring?”

“Just going to a software company to help write code.”

Shen Yu noticed his emotional change and frowned slightly, “It’s not considered too tiring, it can also be considered accumulating experience, paving the way for the future.”

Lu Zhiyan stared into his eyes, as if confirming he wasn’t lying. Remaining silent for a good while, he finally opened his mouth slowly, his voice carrying a bit of hoarse tenseness:

“You… couldn’t be lying to me, right?”

“How could I lie to you.”

Shen Yu let out a laugh. Reaching out, he rubbed his hair. His fingertips traced past his soft strands of hair, carrying a bit of doting gentleness, “When have I ever lied to you.”

No, you have lied to me…

Clearly so sad, yet refusing to say half a sentence. Clearly in so much pain, yet still having to pretend to be fine. Clearly already so severely ill, yet refusing to let me know at all…

Lu Zhiyan’s eye sockets rippled with a burst of sour, hot dampness. He quickly turned his head to tidy up the wetness deep in his eyes that almost overflowed. Then, when Shen Yu lowered his head and leaned close in worry, he abruptly turned back around, slightly raising his chin to look at the other party.

The tips of the two’s noses almost touched, and their warm breaths instantly intertwined.

Looking at that person’s slightly dazed eyes close at hand, Lu Zhiyan reached out with a bit of a threatening implication and made a gesture of scissors cutting something. His voice was pressed very low, revealing a bit of teasing ruthlessness:

“If you lie to me… the consequences will be very severe.”

Hearing this, Shen Yu slightly raised an eyebrow. Looking at his appearance of deliberately raising his chin and pretending to be fierce, it took a good while for him to react. His Adam’s apple bobbed unconsciously, and he answered softly, “Got it.”

Lu Zhiyan was teased into letting out a low chuckle by his appearance, the gentleness deep in his eyes almost overflowing, “Mhm~ It’s good that you know. Let’s go. I’m tired, let’s find a guesthouse to stay for a night, and go back to the city tomorrow.”

“Mhm.”