The barrage of comments in the livestream continued to flood in:

【That tiny piece costs 200,000?! My god, I’ve learned something new today…】

【200k for something this ugly…】

【A random little trinket for 200k?! Wow, his family must be loaded. Envy QAQ】

【Such a waste! Do you know how rare purple rosewood is now?】

【Just casually tossed in a corner of the counter—this is what it’s like to be rich QAQ】

【Why isn’t Yiyi saying anything? Don’t tell me even he didn’t know that thing was worth 200k? 233333】

【I’m sorry, I owe it an apology. Now I think it’s kinda cute. Poor thing, let me pat it.】

【Snap out of it, upstairs! Can we have a little dignity? hhhhhhh Where’s your shame?】

One of the viewers accidentally stumbled upon the truth, but their comment was quickly drowned out by the rest.

Su Yiran didn’t take that one comment seriously right away. He wasn’t in the mood to keep streaming anymore, so he quickly said goodbye to the audience and ended the livestream.

He still remembered that when Gu Yuanting had given him the wood, he said it was fragrant rosewood. But Su Yiran wasn’t well-versed in wood types. He only knew about the more famous ones like zitan and chenxiangmu, so he assumed this was just an ordinary type of sandalwood, which usually cost a few hundred yuan per jin.

Su Yiran did a quick online search and found: fragrant rosewood, also known as southern sea huanghuali, is a rare species of wood. It is currently one of the most expensive in the world due to its density, hardness, rich oil content, and high ornamental value.

Depending on quality, size, and age, the price typically ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per jin. The highest-grade variety—purple fragrant rosewood, also known as purple oily pearwood—can reach prices of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan per jin.

Su Yiran: “……”

He took a breath and thought of messaging Gu Yuanting instead of calling since he was probably still at work. He sent a text:
[How much did you pay for that fragrant rosewood you bought for the wood carving?]

Gu Yuanting was sitting in a car on his way to a business meeting when he saw the message pop up—and his heart sank.

After a moment of hesitation, he replied vaguely:
[Not much. Why?]

Seeing that Gu Yuanting was dodging the question, Su Yiran knew this wasn’t a small matter. He took another deep breath and replied:
[No reason. We’ll talk when you get home.]

Gu Yuanting stared at the words “no reason”, his fingers twitching nervously.

Su Yiran was definitely angry.

—

Su Yiran calmed himself down. Maybe it hadn’t cost 200,000 after all. Better to talk it out at home.

The shop got busy again that evening. The specialty desserts that hadn’t sold out during the day—lemon cheesecake and rainbow tofu cake—quickly sold out.

Gu Yuanting arrived an hour early to pick him up as usual. Su Yiran didn’t mention the carving right away and focused on the store, while Gu Yuanting quietly helped out.

On the way home, Su Yiran still didn’t say anything. Gu Yuanting kept sneaking glances at him while driving, earning a frown and a scolding:
“Eyes on the road.”

Gu Yuanting: “…”

When they got home, Su Yiran casually dropped the shopping bag on the hallway cabinet. Thud—a dull sound.

Then he began his interrogation:
“I looked it up. Purple fragrant rosewood goes for 40-50k per jin. That piece you gave me weighs over four jin. You spent 200,000 just like that?”

Gu Yuanting didn’t dare admit it had cost even more.

He thought for a moment and lowballed it drastically:
“Not that much. Maybe 60-70k.”

Su Yiran was relieved it wasn’t 200k—but when he processed what Gu Yuanting actually said, his breath caught again.

60-70k is “not that much”?! He snapped,
“Did you even discuss this with me before spending that kind of money?”

Then he asked suspiciously:
“Why 60-70k though? The market price is clearly 200k.”

Gu Yuanting replied,
“A friend gave me a deal. I helped him triple his money on stocks, so he gave me a friendship discount.”

In truth, when Gu Yuanting went looking for the wood, he didn’t think much about it—he just wanted to give Su Yiran the best and replace the cheap one from the original owner.

That day when he gave the wood to Su Yiran and got asked what kind it was, he’d answered without giving it much thought.

Su Yiran believed him. There had been a few times before where Gu Yuanting made big gains for work contacts through stock investments, and in return, they gave him heavy discounts.

But still, he couldn’t accept the 60-70k price tag.
“No matter how you put it, that’s too much for us.”
He sighed, feeling his boyfriend was too extravagant.
“And you didn’t even talk to me about it beforehand. You bought it just to make a little ornament.”

They still had mortgage and car payments to make. Though their new shop was doing well and growing fast, it had only just opened—funds hadn’t turned over yet, and they were still operating at a loss.

They did have some investments, but the starting capital was low, and all the returns had been reinvested. They were still in the observation phase.

All their hard-earned money—and then bam, 60-70k just vanished.

Seeing Su Yiran getting worked up, Gu Yuanting quickly said,
“I’m sorry.”
He reached out, trying to hug him and smooth his frown.
“Don’t be mad, please.”

Su Yiran looked at him, half-angry, half-amused. He dodged the hug and said seriously:
“Making money is hard. Are you getting cocky just because things have been going well for the past couple years? You can’t just throw money around like it’s nothing, Yuanting. This isn’t okay.”

Gu Yuanting stood there, properly scolded, not daring to move.

Su Yiran pressed on with concern:
“And what if we do need the money later? What if something happens—trouble, illness, accidents…?”

Gu Yuanting’s heart clenched at that. He pulled Su Yiran into a hug and wouldn’t let him keep talking.
“Don’t say that. Nothing will happen.”
He repeated,
“I was wrong. Please don’t say that.”

That softened Su Yiran’s heart. His anger melted away.

Thinking about it, 60-70k wasn’t so bad compared to 200k.

Thank goodness a netizen had already given him a reality check ahead of time.

And the money was already spent. Nothing could be done about it now.

He spoke more gently:
“As long as you know you were wrong. Don’t do this again. We’re just regular people—we live regular lives. Making money is tough, we have to be grounded, okay?”

Gu Yuanting nodded quickly. He reached out, trying again to touch Su Yiran’s faint frown.
“Are you still mad?”

Su Yiran couldn’t help but smile, his frown disappearing.
“Not anymore. But you have to remember this—no more reckless spending.”
He grumbled,
“And honestly, if you’re going to splurge, at least make something pretty. That thing turned out so ugly…”

Gu Yuanting: “……”

Seeing Su Yiran’s frown smooth out, Gu Yuanting’s heart relaxed too.

“You,” Su Yiran said, poking him lightly on the forehead. Gu Yuanting’s head tilted back from the tap.

The two had reached a “consensus” and headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

Their home returned to a warm, peaceful rhythm.

—

The next morning.

Su Yiran got up early. He had a meeting scheduled with a marketing strategist to discuss how to promote their specialty desserts.

For a dessert to go viral online, it needed more than just unique appearance and great taste—effective marketing was essential.

Without proper promotion, even something that exploded overnight might fade away from public view within weeks.

Hot topics change so fast nowadays. People’s attention spans are short—it doesn’t take long for the spotlight to move on.

The marketing firm he was meeting had a good reputation. He had chatted with the strategist the night before and was satisfied overall. Some details were hard to explain online, so they agreed to meet that morning.

While Gu Yuanting made breakfast in the kitchen, Su Yiran got up to wash and change.

By the time Gu Yuanting set breakfast on the table, Su Yiran had come out wearing a light pink sweater.

Light. Pink.

Gu Yuanting: “!”

During breakfast, Su Yiran noticed that Yuanting kept sneaking glances at him. It was… a look.

When they were clearing the table and doing the dishes, that feeling became even stronger.

Su Yiran was calmly washing dishes when he noticed Gu Yuanting—who was wiping down the countertop—kept looking at him. Over and over.

Su Yiran raised a brow.
“Hey.”

Gu Yuanting: “Hm?”

Su Yiran: “…Stop staring. What’s so interesting to look at?”

Gu Yuanting kept staring:
“You look really good in pink.”

He wanted to hug, to squish, to touch, to kiss, to—

Now Gu Yuanting finally understood what internet slang meant by “being killed by the cuteness.”

He was completely slain by the cuteness.

Su Yiran said, exasperated,
“…I’ve worn this thing for years. If you hadn’t knit it for me, I would’ve thrown it out long ago.”
He looked down at the old sweater.
“It’s so worn out.”

But it felt soft and comfy, perfect as a base layer under a jacket.

Gu Yuanting: “……”

“……”

That sweater—knit by the original version of himself—was now clinging to every inch of Su Yiran’s skin.

Just days ago, the yearbook and high school photo album incident was still weighing on Gu Yuanting’s heart.

The original owner’s item… was still kissing every bit of Su Yiran’s body.

The flame of jealousy in Gu Yuanting’s chest flared to life—

And burned hotter and hotter.