Lin Zhu hadn’t expected Yan Ruoyun to come pick him up from school. Even as he sat down in the passenger seat, he still hadn’t fully processed it. Turning his head to glance at him several times, he couldn’t help but ask: “Why did you come?”

Yan Ruoyun first had him place the stack of books on his lap into the backseat, then raised an eyebrow and asked in return: “Am I not welcome?”

Lin Zhu hurriedly shook his head: “No, didn’t you say on WeChat that you were very busy lately?”

The man was still dressed in a highly aristocratic suit. The slight difference was that today, he had slicked his bangs back and styled them. However, after a day of work, his hair was slightly messy and loose, with a few disobedient strands falling near the tail of his eyebrows, disrupting that seemingly inviolable, exquisite aura.

Yet, it fully displayed his mature charm.

“I have to go on a business trip in a few days, so I’ll be even less free.” Yan Ruoyun nodded slightly. “But I still have time to take you out for dinner tonight.”

Lin Zhu fastened his seatbelt, asking with anticipation and curiosity: “What are we eating?”

“Depends on what you want to eat.” Yan Ruoyun’s driving skills were excellent; with a turn of the steering wheel, he pulled out. “Other than fish, I don’t have any dietary restrictions.”

He particularly hated the smell of fishiness and wouldn’t touch fish at all.

Lin Zhu thought for a moment and asked: “Then can you eat spicy food?”

“I kind of want to eat hotpot…” He pursed his lips, hesitantly voicing his thoughts, just unsure if Yan Ruoyun would like this highly down-to-earth, bustling type of food.

After all, it meant picking food from the same pot.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Yan Ruoyun responded: “Sure, I know a hotpot place that’s pretty good. It’s only a ten-minute drive away.”

Lin Zhu tilted his head to look at him, a bit pleasantly surprised: “You like eating hotpot too?”

Yan Ruoyun was just about to answer, but suddenly remembered something and swallowed his original words. He just nodded and smiled: “Yeah, quite a coincidence.”

This hour was the peak of the evening commute, so the roads were slightly congested.

The roughly ten-minute drive stretched out to nearly half an hour before the two finally arrived at their destination.

Lin Zhu got out of the car first, looking around curiously at the surrounding environment.

He had originally thought the place Yan Ruoyun recommended would be some clean, high-end food court in a commercial district. He never expected the man would drive to an old neighborhood of unknown age.

He followed Yan Ruoyun into the alleys, taking numerous twists and turns through the narrow hutong paths, finally coming to a stop in front of a street-facing traditional Chinese hotpot restaurant.

The storefront was an entire two-story tavern building. Hung above the door was an antique black wooden plaque——

Old Courtyard Hotpot.

Just standing outside, the savory, numbing, and spicy aroma was already wafting over. It smelled like a century-old establishment, making one’s mouth water incessantly.

Yan Ruoyun seemed to be a regular here. The moment he walked in, the receptionist at the front desk greeted him enthusiastically: “Mr. Yan, you’re here. The usual?”

Lin Zhu, following behind the man, heard him say: “Yes, two people, the old spot.”

The receptionist skillfully opened a ticket, but as his gaze swept over the blonde youth behind him, he casually asked in confusion, “Huh, aren’t you with that… today?”

“Mhm, bringing my younger brother over this time.” Before the other party could finish, Yan Ruoyun seemingly casually interjected. Then, reaching out to grasp Lin Zhu’s wrist, he familiarly led him upstairs.

The wooden stairs let out faint creak creak sounds.

Lin Zhu lagged a few steps behind Yan Ruoyun, his gaze happening to land on the spot where their hands met.

The man’s fingers were long and bony, grasping the part of Lin Zhu’s hand close to the palm that wasn’t covered by his suit uniform sleeve. Those curled fingertips coincidentally pressed against the center of the youth’s palm…

If Lin Zhu just closed his fingers, he could completely envelop those fingertips.

The ‘old spot’ Yan Ruoyun mentioned was a small private booth on the second floor by the window.

The booth wasn’t soundproof; it only used a bamboo-carved roll-up blind as a partition, serving to block lines of sight. The laughter and chatter of surrounding diners, along with the bubbling sounds of boiling hotpots, flooded in from all directions.

It sounded very lively, full of the bustling atmosphere of daily life.

Dining in this kind of environment seemed to make one even more appetizing.

The carved wooden window frames were pushed wide open to the outside.

The two sat facing each other by the window.

Lin Zhu took the initiative to handle the pre-meal task of scalding and rinsing the tableware. As he did, he noticed the row of customers waiting for seats downstairs and asked in confusion: “Do we not need to make a reservation and wait in line?”

The business at this hotpot restaurant was truly excellent; there was practically not a single empty seat.

Yan Ruoyun sat across from him, currently undoing the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing half of his sharp collarbones. “Because I’m half the boss here.”

“A boss naturally has privileges.” He smiled lightly at the youth.

Lin Zhu handed the scalded set of tableware to the person opposite him, struggling to maintain his expression.

…Seriously??

The Yan Corporation initially started in real estate, later diversifying its investments into increasingly varied industries. Its subsidiaries included, but were not limited to: the entertainment media industry, emerging technologies, and other high-end sectors…

But now, Yan Ruoyun was telling Lin Zhu that he was also the boss of a hotpot restaurant?

And only half a boss??

Thinking of this.

A flash of inspiration crossed Lin Zhu’s mind, and he subconsciously blurted out: “Is the other boss… Lin Xiujie?”

He remembered seemingly reading a relevant snippet.

In the middle-to-late stages of the novel, Lin Xiujie accompanied Yan Ruoyun, who was in recovery, to travel and relax. They returned a few times to places where they had left memories together in their youth, and it seemed this hotpot restaurant was mentioned among them?

It just wasn’t detailed much, merely mentioned in passing, which was why Lin Zhu only remembered it now.

Yan Ruoyun poured two cups of barley tea, placed one in front of Lin Zhu, and gave a soft ‘Mhm’. Immediately after, he asked: “How did you know?”

Lin Zhu pursed his lips: “I guessed.”

Yan Ruoyun smiled, intentionally asking him: “Do you mind?”

Long before the youth’s pheromone compatibility report was placed on the Yan family’s desk, Yan Ruoyun had known about this person—he and Lin Xiujie were friends who grew up together, and the other man would occasionally mention this half-brother of his.

But since this involved the emotional entanglements of the previous generation, he rarely chimed in.

Throughout the process, he only listened in silence.

And after making the decision to try dating Lin Zhu, Yan Ruoyun thoroughly recalled all the things he had heard about Lin Zhu through various channels over the years.

Setting aside those romantic AO rumors, what the outside world gossiped about the most was his background, often dragging him and Lin Xiujie together… In that kind of oppressive environment growing up, the youth probably harbored no good feelings toward that half-brother of his.

That was what Yan Ruoyun had originally thought.

However, during the few times he mentioned his engagement with Lin Xiujie, he found that Lin Zhu didn’t exhibit any negative emotions like disgust or jealousy. Instead, he seemed somewhat avoidant…?

Combining the youth’s behavior in various aspects, Yan Ruoyun had some thoughts of his own.

Lin Zhu didn’t talk much, had a personality with avoidant tendencies, and seemed very inept at handling intimate relationships, appearing quite unfamiliar with them. In some aspects… he seemed to lack confidence.

He didn’t wait for Lin Zhu to answer whether he minded or not, continuing on his own: “Back in high school, the first time Lin Xiujie and I skipped class, we ran out to have lunch… it was right here.”

“On the day we graduated high school, we also came here to eat. We had a bit to drink, and in a fit of excitement, we each put up half the money and bought this shop.”

Shortly after that, he entered his secondary differentiation period and was quickly diagnosed with the fatal defect, causing the hazy, budding affection between him and Lin Xiujie to grind to a halt.

Both took a step back, and it never developed further.

“Two months ago, I came here with him again,” Yan Ruoyun took a sip of tea, continuing, “I don’t know if he drank too much again that day, but he actually joked that if I ever found a partner, I absolutely had to bring them here for a meal so he could help me evaluate them…”

Lin Zhu listened, utterly dumbfounded.

Outside the window, the evening clouds had long since burned out, leaving only a few faint purple rays lingering on the horizon, reluctant to leave. A pale white moon hung at the border between ink-blue and dusky purple, looking lonely and desolate.

Downstairs, some amusing incident must have occurred, as a burst of loud, high-pitched laughter suddenly erupted, exceedingly noisy and boisterous. This sound was lifted mid-air by the night breeze and delivered to the ears of the two men.

The sky was lonely; the ground was loud.

The man set down his teacup. The bamboo-carved roll-up blind swayed slightly under the blowing of the restaurant’s air conditioning, and the strong light piercing through the gaps flickered across him from time to time, inexplicably leaving one feeling dazzled and entranced.

Lin Zhu only felt his voice drifting past his ears.

Hearing it indistinctly.

Suddenly, Yan Ruoyun extended his index finger and lightly hooked the edge of the teacup, causing the ceramic glaze cup’s base to become unsteady, letting out a sharp clink sound.

The barely one-third of tea remaining inside sloshed around.

Not a single drop spilled out.

He lifted his eyelids, staring directly at the blonde youth across from him, once again smiling to reveal his small dimples: “At the time… at the time, I think I scolded him like this: Crazy, if I had a partner, why would I bring you along to be a third wheel?“

“Lin Zhu.”

Yan Ruoyun called out.

Lin Zhu subconsciously responded: “Mhm.”

Immediately after, he heard Yan Ruoyun say: “I don’t need someone else to evaluate for me. The one I like——is the best.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhu suddenly felt his mouth go dry. He hurriedly picked up the tea Yan Ruoyun had just poured for him and took a huge gulp.

But before he even had time to swallow it, the system suddenly set off fireworks in his brain, urging him on with a tone of frustrated exasperation at his failure to live up to expectations:

“Host, you absent-minded fool!”

“What are you drinking water for at such a romantic moment?!”

“Hurry up and rush over, pin the protagonist down, and fiercely smooch his mouth——!!!”

…

Lin Zhu instantly choked and sprayed out a mouthful of water.