AD Chapter 46

For certain reasons, Qin Yi stayed in the guest room last night.

Around 9 o’clock, Yao Meiyuan came to Shen Du’s room and knocked on the door. After knocking for about half a minute with no response, she opened the door and walked straight in.

As soon as she entered, she was immediately chilled and began rubbing her arms.

Yao Meiyuan found the remote on the bedside table and turned off the air conditioner, which was cold enough to freeze someone, then went to pull the curtains open.

Sunlight flooded into the room, and the person in the bed moved slightly, curling back into the covers like a turtle, leaving only a fluffy head sticking out.

“Get up, still sleeping? Xiao Qin and your dad have finished watering the flowers.”

The child had grown up, so Yao Meiyuan didn’t pull the blanket off like she used to when he was little. But as she reached the side of the bed, her hand instinctively gave a light pat. “Get up.”

The “turtle” moved slightly, and Shen Du lifted the blanket. “Mom, why did you hit my butt?”

Yao Meiyuan was startled by his sudden movement, leaning back slightly in surprise. She was confused and said, “I just touched it.”

Was it really such a big reaction?

Shen Du couldn’t tell her that his butt was sore and couldn’t be touched. He opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything for a while. After a moment, he finally managed to blurt out, “How old am I, and you’re still hitting my butt.”

He had just dreamed that Shen Fushan had seen the marks yesterday and would turn it into an embarrassing article in half a month. He was trying to avoid the awkward title, but then Yao Meiyuan had woken him up.

Once awake, he let out a big sigh of relief.

“Alright, no matter how old you get, I’m still your mom,” Yao Meiyuan said.

Shen Du was left speechless.

He really couldn’t stay in this house for another day. It was better to find a time to leave soon. Shen Du got out of bed, put on his slippers, and went to wash up.

Yao Meiyuan noticed something odd on his shoulder. “What’s that wrapped around your shoulder?”

Afraid she might be like Shen Fushan and try to pull it open, Shen Du grabbed the collar of his pajamas and said, “It’s a new tattoo I got.”

“A tattoo?” Yao Meiyuan raised an eyebrow, her first reaction being that her son was going through a rebellious phase again. “What did you get? Does it hurt? Let me see.”

“A butterfly.” Shen Du had already walked to the door, but when she asked, he turned around and walked back. “Mom, let me tell you, this butterfly is really beautiful.”

He didn’t mention that it was Qin Yi who had helped him with the tattoo, but he grinned and said, “Your son went through quite a bit of pain to get this tattoo.”

Because of certain reasons, the slap marks on his butt hadn’t faded yet.

Judging by his cheerful tone, it didn’t sound like he had suffered much.

Yao Meiyuan, seeing him act like a child, felt that his words were exaggerated, but she didn’t want to ruin the mood, so she played along: “How beautiful is it?”

Shen Du, acting smug, said, “Super~ beautiful!”

Yao Meiyuan pretended to be about to hit him: “Showing off, huh?”

Shen Fushan had a father’s responsibility.

Last night, he thought for a whole night and felt uneasy about leaving his silly son with a man like that, so he decided to test him.

Shen Fushan spent hours thinking about how to test him, but after talking for a few hours this morning, he realized that his decision might have been a bit hasty.

The other man had family background, education, and everything else. What right did he have to test him?

Instead, it seemed like he almost exposed his own inadequacies.

After all, this was a child raised by a prominent family in the capital. His vision and mindset were far superior to ordinary people’s. Shen Fushan felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

After finally waiting for Shen Du to get up, Shen Fushan hurriedly left, as if he had urgent business to attend to.

Shen Du called out, “Dad,” and seeing him leave in such a hurry, he felt something was off. He turned to Qin Yi and asked, “What did you two talk about? Why does my dad look like he’s been put in his place?”

He had run over and was out of breath.

Qin Yi looked at him with a soft smile in his eyes: “Nothing, uncle just told me not to bully you.”

He handed Shen Du a cup of tea. “Why are you running so fast? Doesn’t your body still hurt?”

Shen Du paused for a moment. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, okay? You think you’re so amazing that you can make me hurt for two days?”

Qin Yi glanced at him but didn’t respond.

Shen Du wasn’t used to him not firing back, so he licked his lips and took a sip of water. “After we eat, let’s go back to Yunshan. Doesn’t Lu Ning and the others still need you to handle something?”

“I’m going to pick up my cat sons.”

“Besides the cats, is there anyone else?” Qin Yi asked.

Shen Du pretended not to understand. “What else?”

On the way here, Shen Du had sneaked into the kitchen and eaten a piece of pastry to fill his stomach, leaving some evidence on his chin.

Qin Yi reached out, tapped his finger on Shen Du’s chin, and without any beating around the bush, said, “I’ll return the rent to you. After we go back, stay at my place.”

*

When they returned to Yunshan, Qin Yi drove straight to the villa.

Everyone else had gone out on errands, leaving only Zheng Qing to stay home. He seemed to have just woken up, and when he heard movement downstairs, he came out in his pajamas.

“You two finally decided to come back.”

“We’ve only been gone for three days,” Qin Yi said.

Shen Du went to find the cats, and Qin Yi poured himself a glass of water. Zheng Qing came down and adjusted his glasses. “Looks like you’ve been doing well recently.”

Although Qin Yi didn’t say anything, his expression spoke volumes.

He took a sip of water and noticed that Zheng Qing seemed a bit drained. “Another all-nighter?”

Zheng Qing shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, couldn’t sleep. Just laid down for a bit when you two came back.”

“Sorry for disturbing your sleep,” Qin Yi said, setting the cup down. “Alright, you rest. We’ll grab a meal together sometime.”

Zheng Qing said, “The guys have been waiting for you to buy us a meal for a while. You should treat us.”

Qin Yi smiled and saw Shen Du come out holding the cat. He patted him on the shoulder. “We’re leaving now.”

“Shen Ermao, you’ve really made it now, bullying your brother like this.”

Shen Du pinched the cat’s chin, not caring whether it understood.

Da Mao was sitting on Shen Du’s shoulder, dozing off with his head resting against his.

Since the cat’s bed wasn’t ready yet, Shen Du only brought the cat out and said to Qin Yi, “You go get the rest of the stuff.”

Qin Yi, hearing Shen Du scold Er Mao like that, smiled. “How do you know which one’s older?”

“I don’t know,” Shen Du said naturally. “But from now on, Shen Er Mao is younger than Qin Da Mao, and that’s what I say.”

Qin Yi raised an eyebrow, his gaze dropping beneath his eyelids as he looked at the two cats and Shen Du.

Actually, if time could freeze at this moment, it wouldn’t be bad.

Qin Yi gently patted Da Mao’s head. “Alright, you can say whatever you want.”

The next day after returning to Yunshan, Shen Du and Qin Yi announced to everyone at the tattoo shop that they were together.

Niao Niao immediately straightened up: “!!!”

She knew it! She knew something was off!

That time when they were coming back from the river, she had seen Qin Ge hugging Shen Du as they got into the car. It wasn’t a hallucination, nor was it a mistake from being drunk. It was the real deal.

Master Xia and the others were all straight men, and because of the generation gap, they didn’t interact much. They stood there holding their bowls and chopsticks, frozen for a while, not sure how to respond.

“No, wait, what? Xiao Shen Du, you mean you and… and the boss, what’s going on?”

Master Cao continued, “You two are gay?”

It was Master Liu’s turn now. He looked around at everyone and directly asked, “So, have you two kissed yet?”

“……”

The old men all gave him a glare.

Look at the kind of questions he’s asking. Totally pointless.

But they were curious to know.

Master Liu, seeing the others’ knowing glances, spoke up for everyone: “So, can you answer the question from last time?”

Last time, by the river, Master Liu had asked Shen Du three questions, and Shen Du had been caught by the last one.

“Don’t try to trick me. I was drunk last time, and I didn’t owe any questions.”

“Last time, the boss drank for you.”

Master Xia slapped his forehead. “Oh! No wonder he drank for you and kept forcing Lao Liu to drink. So that’s where the problem started.”

So, they had already been secretly together at that time.

Shen Du smirked. “You guys just talk about whether we kissed or not.”

Seeing he wasn’t tricked, Master Liu awkwardly scratched his head. Master Cao leaned over to whisper to Master Xia, “Looks like it hasn’t gone that far yet? Seems like the boss isn’t doing too well.”

It turned out that their boss was standing right behind them.

Qin Yi, with a cigarette between his lips, looked a bit rebellious, as if he had planned to go out for a smoke but came back after overhearing their conversation.

“I remember that Master Xia’s ex-wife came back to Yunshan a couple of days ago. Since we know each other, should I invite her to the shop for a visit?”

Master Xia: “…”

Boss, can he not be wrong?

Qin Yi then turned to look at the other old crew members. They all turned their heads in unison, pretending to be busy.

It’s said that love nourishes men. At this moment, their boss seemed to have entered a second spring, with a look of pride in his eyes.

No one dared to cross him at this moment.

When everyone was using the bathroom, Xiang Nan finally found the chance to speak to Shen Du.

“Are you really with Brother Qin?”

Shen Du hadn’t thought that Xiang Nan might have a crush on him, but seeing the situation now, it was hard not to misunderstand.

What is this? Not hitting the wall until you turn back?

He grabbed a tissue to dry his hands, leaned against the wall, and made a sound of acknowledgment.

Xiang Nan opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.

“You don’t need to be sad. If the fate’s not there, it’s just not there.”

Xiang Nan paused for a moment. “?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just me, I’m a complicated gay,” Shen Du said.

Xiang Nan thought to himself, no matter how complicated, it’s still just a person. Besides, what does it have to do with him?

“So?”

Shen Du felt like he had made himself clear, but seeing that Xiang Nan’s expression was the same as before, even with a hint of speechlessness, he realized he hadn’t gotten through.

Now, it was his turn to not understand. “So, we can never happen.”

Xiang Nan’s expression became even stranger. “What are we even talking about?”

“Of course—” Shen Du started to answer but suddenly realized something was off. His brain quickly spun, and he realized that Qin Yi had been lying to him back then.

His expression immediately fell, and his tone lost its previous fluctuation: “Let’s just drop it.”

Xiang Nan seemed to understand, or maybe he didn’t. Not understanding was better, Shen Du thought as he mentally cursed Qin Yi. He casually changed the topic: “So you came all the way here just for this? Xiang Nan, why do I feel like you’re really concerned about me and Qin Yi?”

He had wanted to say this earlier.

The way this guy reacted when he found out Shen Du was with Qin Yi was pretty intense. Even last time when he was naming the tattoo, he was all worked up.

Xiang Nan replied with an “Oh,” and then said, “Oh, that, it’s nothing. It’s just that Qin Ge told me something before.”

“What did he say?” Shen Du asked.

Xiang Nan tapped his lips and then dropped a bombshell: “He said he likes to mess around with younger guys.”

Shen Du: “…”