Chapter 13: Still Waters Run Deep

The light inside the car was dim. The only light source was the garage lighting, which slanted in through the windshield, illuminating the lower half of Zhu Zhixi’s face. Despite this, his eyes were very bright.

He didn’t answer the question directly, just smiled, his expression tinged with cunning.

After a moment, with a click, Zhu Zhixi unbuckled his seatbelt and said to Fu Rangyi in almost a whisper, “I don’t know.”

I don’t know. Fu Rangyi was actually a little impressed. Was this the experience of playing dumb accumulated over years of dealing with admirers? Or was it an innate talent?

For such a clever, slippery person to say something like a countdown… it was too contradictory. It simply couldn’t be analyzed with normal logic.

For a moment, Fu Rangyi even began to question science and materialism, trying to think “what if.” What if what he said was true?

But it was only for a moment.

Fu Rangyi touched his bracelet, feeling a headache coming on, and couldn’t be bothered to think about it anymore. Without another word, he silently took the elevator with Zhu Zhixi up to the first-floor living room, where more headaches awaited him.

Unlike him, Zhu Zhixi was like a fish in water in this kind of setting. Even though it was his first time here, he had already blended in, able to chat with everyone.

Conversely, whenever he returned home, Fu Rangyi usually spent most of his time alone in his room. But now, with his partner in the living room chatting animatedly with his parents, he was the one who felt out of place.

Forget it, I’ll just leave him be. If he loves to talk so much, let him talk.

Having finally prepared himself mentally and just as he stood up to leave the sofa, a hand grabbed him.

It was as if Zhu Zhixi had an eye in the back of his head; he noticed the moment he was about to leave. He turned his head, grabbed Fu Rangyi’s wrist, and asked softly, “Where are you going?”

That sticky tone again. Fu Rangyi glanced at his hand, then looked at him. “To get you some water.”

“Oh my, let the auntie do such a small thing.” Mother Fu raised her hand, about to call the maid, but Fu Rangyi spoke first.

“It’s fine, he doesn’t like plain water.” He stood up anyway. “I’ll get it.”

“There’s tea, really good tea. Your Uncle Zhang just brought it from…”

Zhu Zhixi smiled. Just as he opened his mouth, his words collided with Fu Rangyi’s, who was already walking away.

“I don’t…” / “He doesn’t drink tea either.”

He froze for a second, raised his hand to touch the tip of his nose, then ran a hand through his hair. Finally, he smiled at Mother Fu, the tips of his ears quickly turning a faint shade of red.

Mother Fu’s eyes were full of surprise. “This is the first time I’ve seen this child like this. Getting married really changes a person. He knows how to take care of people now.”

Is that so? Zhu Zhixi was a bit skeptical. It should be because my questionnaire method worked.

But when Fu Rangyi walked over and handed him a cup of hot chocolate sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon, Zhu Zhixi was genuinely stunned. This wasn’t in the questionnaire information. How did he know?

He looked up at Fu Rangyi. Their eyes met. Fu Rangyi raised an eyebrow at him, as if asking, “Don’t you like it?”

No. It’s terrifying that you guessed right.

“Thanks.” Zhu Zhixi took a sip. His eyes widened slightly.

There’s cream in it too!

Father Fu glanced over and said with a smile, “A special mix? The auntie certainly can’t make that.”

Seeing Zhu Zhixi lose his earlier ease and suddenly become nervous, Fu Rangyi found it very interesting. He leaned against the sofa, watching him, no longer thinking of returning to his room.

It wasn’t until the elevator door opened again and Fu Liaoxing returned that the family dinner officially began.

Compared to the last time the two families had dinner together, this time the venue had shifted, and Father and Mother Fu were clearly much more at ease, constantly urging Zhu Zhixi to eat. Inevitably, Father Fu once again brought up the topic of their wedding.

Zhu Zhixi knew Fu Rangyi didn’t want to have one. A marriage destined for divorce had little need for celebration. But it was obvious that in Father Fu’s eyes, this wedding was not a celebration for his children, but a rather important social banquet.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhixi wasn’t happy either. On this point, he and Fu Rangyi were on the same side, so he kept deflecting, saying he was very busy with work recently and had no time to prepare.

“Work? Then let’s talk about your work.” Father Fu looked interested.

So Zhu Zhixi chatted casually about it. During this time, he kept observing Fu Rangyi and noticed that he remained silent throughout.

Over the course of the meal, the two heads of the Fu family showed less interest in their own son’s work than in his. Was it because Fu Rangyi’s job was too stable? Or was archaeological research too far removed from business and finance?

“You’re a curator?” Fu Liaoxing, at his side, suddenly asked. “I love going to exhibitions. I might have even seen one of yours.”

“Is that so?” Zhu Zhixi smiled and shared a few art exhibitions he had done. “But they weren’t in the country, so the possibility of you having seen them is rather small.”

“But I feel like you look very familiar, as if I’ve seen you somewhere.” Fu Liaoxing gently stirred the hot soup in his bowl with a spoon, his eyes on Zhu Zhixi. His eyes were very different from Fu Rangyi’s—downturned, making him look very approachable.

Zhu Zhixi thought for a moment and smiled. “Maybe you’ve scrolled past me online.”

Fu Liaoxing’s hand stopped moving. At the same time, Fu Rangyi’s eating also paused for a moment. For the first time, the two brothers showed a moment of synchronicity.

“Ah.” Fu Liaoxing’s face showed sudden realization. “Do you post vlogs of your world travels online? No, wait, and videos of you volunteering. I knew I must have seen you somewhere. The episode in the Amazon rainforest was particularly interesting. I even shared it with my friends.”

Zhu Zhixi nodded with a smile, propping his face with his hand. “Yes, that’s me. I used to wander around everywhere and thought I’d document it, so I posted it online.”

“What a coincidence!” Fu Liaoxing put down his spoon, leaned forward quite a bit, and also propped his chin with his hand, his eyes full of interest. “Oh right, I’ve always been curious. In the episode where you went to a primitive tribe to see a shaman, was the potion they gave you to drink really effective? It looked so dark. I watched the whole thing with a frown.”

“Ah, how should I put it? Maybe it was useful,” Zhu Zhixi said, sticking out his tongue. “But it tasted really bad.”

The two of them laughed, and the more they talked, the more they hit it off. The conversation hardly paused, and even the Fu parents at the side became curious, joining in from time to time.

The only one who remained silent was Fu Rangyi. He stared fixedly at the pattern on the edge of his bone plate, his face dark. Perhaps affected by the fluctuations of his pheromone cycle, he had a poor appetite and found the food tasteless. He was planning to find an excuse to leave the table early.

“Then Xiao Xi has really been to many places,” Mother Fu said, turning the lazy Susan and lovingly placing a piece of Dongpo pork on each of the three children’s plates. “This is cooked especially well. Look at how good the color is.”

When she placed it on Fu Rangyi’s plate, she even said with a smile, “Rangyi, you eat more. You work hard in your classes. Have you lost weight again?”

Fu Rangyi gave a faint smile, said softly, “Thanks, Mom,” and lowered his eyes, staring at the rosy piece of meat before him.

Just as he was about to move his chopsticks, suddenly, a pair of chopsticks reached over without any sense of propriety and snatched the meat from his bowl.

“So delicious! Mom, can I borrow the auntie for a few days? This is cooked so well.” Zhu Zhixi leaned over and tilted his head at him. “Let me have this piece too, okay?”

Fu Rangyi was clearly a bit stunned.

Zhu Zhixi knew this, so he shook his head and smiled at him. “Fu Rangyi, you’re the most generous.”

No one else at the table noticed anything unusual. They were all very tolerant of Zhu Zhixi’s willfulness and little temper, just teasing him with a few jokes.

Fu Rangyi, with some difficulty, tore his gaze away from Zhu Zhixi’s face and returned to his own bowl. He stared at it for a while, thinking of the flimsy questionnaire that Zhu Zhixi had filled out.

He also felt Zhu Zhixi’s swinging legs under the table. His swinging knee accidentally bumped into his, but they quickly separated. This was a sign of his happiness. Was he happy because he had done something right? Or did he think his performance was good?

I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. Fu Rangyi’s mind was clear. He mentally admonished himself not to take this too seriously.

However, the next second, a hand crawled onto his knee. To be precise, it was an alternating index and middle finger, like the busy legs of a little person.

After reaching the “summit” of his knee, the “little person” collapsed. The fingertips scratched a few times on the fabric of his trousers. It took Fu Rangyi a while to realize he was writing letters: B-o-r-i-n-g. After writing it, the hand nonchalantly moved away. But strangely, his hand seemed different from others; wherever it slid past on its way out, it left a faint, itchy sensation.

Lifting his eyes, he looked at Zhu Zhixi. On the surface, this person was propping his cheek with his hand, chatting and laughing animatedly with everyone. But behind their backs, he was complaining to him that the meal was boring, smiling brightly and cheerfully, making little gestures that he himself didn’t find ambiguous at all.

So contradictory.

But perhaps because he had an “ally,” knowing he wasn’t the only one feeling bored, Fu Rangyi’s appetite improved a little, and he drank half a bowl more of soup.

After the meal, Zhu Zhixi drank a few sips of sweet soup and saw the butler leading in a lilac-colored border collie.

Fu Liaoxing called it Ruby, waving affectionately. Ruby slowly walked over, sniffed Fu Rangyi, licked his hand affectionately a few times, and only then went to Fu Liaoxing’s side.

When Zhu Zhixi saw an animal, he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He pulled Fu Rangyi’s wrist and asked in a low voice if he could go walk the dog with his brother.

To be honest, the content of this question actually annoyed Fu Rangyi. However… however, the way Zhu Zhixi sought his permission first was interesting. So he tacitly agreed.

He had intended to go straight upstairs to his room to read a thesis, but when he reached the stairs, he ran into a cleaning auntie. She was carrying two baskets of large, red strawberries that looked very fresh.

Upon his inquiry, the auntie explained, “These were a gift from Madam’s friend, the best batch. Madam said no one eats them, so she asked me to make some jam.”

Fu Rangyi nodded. His feet paused on the stairs for a few seconds, but in the end, he changed his course and went to the kitchen.

The kitchen was filled with strawberries, a sea of red, creating a very festive atmosphere. The two maids were clearly a bit flustered by his arrival.

Fu Rangyi paid them no mind. He took his phone out of his coat pocket, contemplating whether to call Zhu Zhixi back. But in the end, he didn’t and put his phone down.

“Are all of these for jam?” Fu Rangyi’s tone was flat. “How many jars will that make? Will they fit in the fridge?”

“Madam said she’s giving them away as gifts. She’s already spread the word, so we’re rushing to make them.”

Fu Rangyi nodded but still didn’t leave. The two aunties exchanged a look. They had both worked for the Fu family for a long time and knew this young master. He was a man of few words, polite to them, rarely needed them for anything, and was extremely clean. His sudden presence in the kitchen, not leaving, made them hesitant to act. What if they were working and splashed something on him? That would be trouble.

After a long silence, she finally couldn’t help but speak. “Um, Young Mas…”

“They look quite good. It’s a pity to turn them all into jam.”

Breaking character, Fu Rangyi rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands, and said, “I’ll pick a few.”

Three minutes later, seeing the plate of strawberries piled high like a small mountain in Fu Rangyi’s hands, the auntie was a bit surprised. Is that a “few”?

The other auntie was clearly more savvy, handing over a new basket. “There are white ones here too, they taste very good. Would you like to pick a few of these as well?”

Fu Rangyi looked flatly at the basket, then down at the fruit bowl in his hand. After a moment’s thought, he took a larger fruit platter from the cabinet.

As he was washing the third batch of strawberries, for some reason, Father Fu also came looking for him. He seemed very surprised that Fu Rangyi was washing fruit himself and waved his hand dismissively, telling him to put them down. “Let the auntie wash them. Why are you washing them?”

Fu Rangyi didn’t speak, placed the last strawberry on the mountain in the platter, and wiped his hands. “They’re already washed.”

Father Fu had just finished a cigarette and smelled of smoke mixed with Alpha pheromones. Fu Rangyi frowned slightly and stood still, waiting for him to speak.

“Rangyi, you haven’t been back for a meal in a long time. If I don’t call you, you don’t even know to come home.” Father Fu’s expression was much gentler than before. He smiled, his hand on Fu Rangyi’s shoulder, but in reality, Fu Rangyi was quite a bit taller than him, making the scene look a bit comical.

The two aunties tactfully left, leaving only the father and son in the large kitchen.

Fu Rangyi didn’t speak, just slightly curved his lips, his expression peaceful.

“You see, you didn’t want to get married before, but isn’t it quite good now?” Father Fu said with a joking laugh. “You only went on this one blind date in total, and you happened to meet someone you like. You’re quite lucky.”

After speaking, he added with emphasis, “You’ve always been a lucky child.”

Fu Rangyi maintained his usual silence. The pheromones from his father triggered a physiological repulsion, as did his words. It was like throwing stones into a vast, silent lake, one after another. Dizzying ripples vibrated outwards, spread, and then disappeared.

He half-lowered his eyes, staring at the strawberries in the bowl. The luscious red skin exuded a fruity aroma, sweet and sour, reminding him of the pheromone scent of an Omega his brother had dated before.

He couldn’t remember what that Omega looked like anymore; there was nothing special about her. But Fu Liaoxing had liked her a lot, so much that he had argued with his parents several times. The other party’s family background was also good, but not comparable to Zhu Zhixi’s—whose father and brother were influential figures in the business world, and whose family elders had connections in politics and the military.

But after a few arguments, his father stopped interfering in their relationship. In the end, they broke up purely because Fu Liaoxing’s feelings changed and he no longer liked her.

A few months ago, when he was coming downstairs, he had overheard his parents discussing something in the living room.

“If Xiao Xing really doesn’t like her, just let him date freely. We’ve been there. Blind dates, arranged marriages… the feelings are rarely that good. How many can make it to the end? Besides, the one you mentioned… I think we should just forget it.”

“Why forget it? I heard that child is spoiled, treasured like the apple of their family’s eye. They might not even look twice at your son.”

“Whether they do or not, the key is that he can’t have children. Maybe we should just forget it. Let’s not make it seem like we’re selling our son.”

“We’ll see. Let’s put Liaoxing’s matter aside for now. I’ll go ask Rangyi and see if he’s willing to give it a try. He should get married too, it’s been dragged on for so long.”

Thinking back now, “that child” they were talking about was probably Zhu Zhixi. Spoiled, a young master, unable to have children. So they gave up on setting him up with Fu Liaoxing.

Pulling himself out of his memories, Fu Rangyi was also planning to leave, but Father Fu was still teasing with a smile. “I see that child, Xiao Xi, although a bit delicate, after all he was pampered growing up, he has a pretty good personality and likes you. You, on the other hand, should change your temper. Don’t be so cold and icy like you are at home. I’ve taught you long ago: speak gently, flatter appropriately. Otherwise, after a long time, once the novelty wears off…”

“I know.” Fu Rangyi interrupted calmly. “Dad, don’t worry. I will strive to do my duty as a husband, for everyone’s sake.”

He picked up the fruit platter and turned to leave, but his steps paused. He turned back and added in a low voice, “Zhu Zhixi is not delicate. He is very independent and very reasonable. Judging people by their appearance is not advisable. You taught me that too.”

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Author’s Note:

—Xiao En has something to say after reading this chapter—

Liang Yi’en: Senior, don’t you think touching Professor Fu’s leg under the table and writing on it during dinner is very ambiguous?

Zhu Zhixi: I know (puffs out his chest righteously).

Liang Yi’en: …Then why did you still do it? I thought you didn’t think it was.

Zhu Zhixi: Because I was really bored, and I knew Professor Fu was also bored. It’s fun to tease him.

Liang Yi’en: Aren’t you afraid he’ll get angry?

Zhu Zhixi: I love to dance on his bottom line (bounce) (bounce) hehe.

Liang Yi’en’s inner monologue: He’d deserve it if he gets f—ed one day ().