Chapter 48

Translated by Rikko of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Xia Yao’s stupefied look made Zhou Du smug. He raised his eyebrows, “How do I look?”

Zhou Du’s question brought Xia Yao back to his senses. He lowered his eyelids before turning his head to Zhou Du, “Come on over and eat.”

Zhou Du rushed down the stairs and stood in front of Xia Yao, “Look at me.”

Heaving a sigh, Xia Yao lifted his head and stared straight into Zhou Du’s eyes, “Come over and eat.”

After the meal, Zhou Du offered to help clear the tables. Seeing how formally dressed Zhou Du was, Xia Yao laughed, “I think you should change your clothes before that.”

Upon hearing what Xia Yao said, Zhou Du had a change of mind, “Oh yeah, you have never seen my room yet, right? Come, come. Let me show you my room.” Without even waiting for Xia Yao to reply, he dragged Xia Yao up the stairs. Xia Yao looked at the back of Zhou Du’s head; the shameless thoughts in Zhou Du’s head were as clear as day to Xia Yao. He just let Zhou Du haul him to the room wordlessly.

Zhou Du’s room was huge and bright—that was Xia Yao’s first impression of it. Further scrutinization revealed that every item was put in order, and the floor was impeccably clean. Xia Yao knew, without a doubt, Zhou family’s nanny was the one who did all the hard work.

Zhou Du took a glimpse at the chair under his desk and pushed it further inside with his elbow. “Sit here,” he patted on the bed he tidied.

After a glance at the bed, Xia Yao was mulling over whether he should sit on it when Zhou Du tugged his wrist to him and pinned him down the bed. “Zhou Du,’ Xia Yao’s throat tightened. As he gave Zhou Du a push, the tie on Zhou Du’s neck just so happened to sweep over Xia Yao’s face.

“It is quite hot, isn’t it?” with one of his hand propping him up on top of Xia Yao, Zhou Du straightened his body slightly. He used his free hand to loosen the tie.

Xia Yao’s hands reached out and touched the buttons on Zhou Du’s suit, “Of course it will be hot if you wear a suit in summer. Just take it off.” He helped to unbutton Zhou Du’s suit while talking.

Following a momentary stun, Zhou Du jubilantly removed his suit and threw it to one side. After both of them gazed into each other’s eyes for a while, Xia Yao grabbed Zhou Du’s tie and pulled him over. Zhou Du gulped down.

Xia Yao shut his eyes, his eyelashes trembling a little. He took a deep breath before raising his head to give Zhou Du a peck on the lips. He knew what Zhou Du wanted; his heart thumped rapidly. Zhou Du closed his eyes as well while pressing down his body onto Xia Yao.

[Insert R18 scene]

Zhou Du’s face wrinkled like the tie in his hand. After slipping his clothes on, Xia Yao blushed when he turned over and looked at Zhou Du, “Why not throw it away?”

“No,” Zhou Du stuffed the tie below his pillow stubbornly.

Before Xia Yao even stepped into his home, he received a call from Zhou Du. He was about to pick it up when he noticed there were guests at home. Presuming that it was that woman again, he opened the doors sneakily. Never did he expect the guests to be his neighbors in the block.

“Oh, you’re back home,” Xia Yao’s mother grinned ear to ear. After greeting the aunties at his house, Xia Yao nodded to his mother. “Aunties around here are overjoyed to hear you are able to get into the university you choose, so they came over to congratulate you.” Once he heard his mother saying that, he thanked the aunties immediately.

“Li Chun, give yourself a break tonight. The few of us booked a table in Xian Man Yuan restaurant; let’s have dinner there tonight.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Xia Yao’s mom declined hurriedly.

“It’s nothing; we’re neighbors. Now that Xia Yao has finally passed his exams, we should go on and celebrate for him, shouldn’t we? Let’s go. Yaoyao, take your keys and lock the door, we’ll go out for dinner now.”

Seeing how cordial the aunties were, Xia Yao didn’t want to dampen their spirits by declining any longer, so he persuaded his mother, “Mom, let’s go.” However, his mother had already been dragged out of the door by the aunties. With a smile, Xia Yao locked the door and followed behind.

The two month holiday flew by; joy filled Xia Yao heart when he received his paycheck. He took the money home and handed it to his mother, “Mom, when I’m not with you in the future, don’t work yourself too hard, OK? If I make a sudden visit home and see you are too stingy to yourself, I will do the same to myself when I’m outside too.”

“Oh, you silly boy,” Xia Yao’s mom shoved the money back to her son’s hands, “keep the money for yourself and use it to buy something you like. Don’t worry about your university fees; just focus on your studies. You don’t need to work part-time to get more money, OK?” Although Xia Yao found it impossible, he promised to his mother to give her piece of mind.

Xia Yao took his mother to the hospital for a checkup two day before enrolling into his university. Initially, his mother refused adamantly but wasn’t able to resist Xia Yao’s urgings. Xia Yao felt reassured only when the results indicated that his mother’s body was fine. Even though his mother detected her illness a few years after he started working during his past life, he was still worried and wanted his mother to have a full body check up every year. Furthermore, he hoped to earn as much money as he could after graduating from his university so that he would not be helpless when his mother contracted an illness in the future.

Zhou Du enrolled two days earlier then Xia Yao and went to B City before him. During the day of Xia Yao’s departure, his mom held onto his hand reluctantly and adjured him for quite some time at the train station. As it was the first time her son left her side, it caused an unspeakable pain in her heart. “Mom, I will give you a call as soon as I reach B City,” prior to Xia Yao’s departure, he bought his mom a mobile phone with the money from the part-time job. The train station began to announce Xia Yao’s train number.  His mother rushed him to get on board while wiping her tears away. With his ticket in hand, he entered the train’s entry gate, looking back longingly every step as he walked.

When the long-distance bus arrived at B City, Xia Yao felt dizzy and excruciatingly nauseous due to his carsickness. Zhou Du’s fashionable wear and sunglasses made him stand out in the messy bus station.  The moment Xia Yao walked out from the exit with his luggage in tow, Zhou Du noticed him swiftly in a glance. He dashed over and took the luggage from Xia Yao. Xia Yao’s pale face broke his heart, “I should have booked a plane ticket for you. How are you? Still feeling sick?”

Xia Yao shook his head, not wishing to say much. Zhou Du planned on hailing a taxi to bring him back to the hotel, but seeing how sick Xia Yao was, he could only look for a place to let him rest. Incidentally, a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant was near the station. He ordered a cup of iced coffee for Xia Yao to let him take a breather. Only after Xia Yao’s carsickness subsided did he bring Xia Yao to the hotel. As Xia Yao had no appetite, he went to bed once he finished showering. Zhou Du couldn’t bear to wake him up due to how sick he looked, so he had no choice but to change his clothes and lie by Xia Yao’s side.

Xia Yao woke up groggily around ten at night. After his nap, he realized he was finally better. Zhou Du was currently snuggling with his hands around Xia Yao’s waist and his head on Xia Yao’s shoulders, his warm breath blowing rhythmically onto Xia Yao’s ear. Xia Yao couldn’t help himself from turning his head over, action which woke Zhou Du up. “Oh, you’re awake. Are you hungry?” Zhou Du’s voice was a little hoarse as he just woke up.

Xia Yao stared at Zhou Du for a bit before stroking his face, “You didn’t eat too, right?”

“Yeah,” Zhou Du grasped Xia Yao’s hand to his lips and kissed it, “Wanna go out for dinner?” With a nod of affirmation from Xia Yao, the two of them packed up a little and went out the room.

As B City was a large city, its nightlife began at 10 p.m. Situated in the unfamiliar city at the moment, Xia Yao wasn’t worried as much. When Zhou Du’s fingers lightly brushed onto his palm, he summed up his courage and held onto them gently. Surprised, Zhou Du turned to Xia Yao before clutching back tightly. Thus, just like a normal couple, they strolled along the street lights hand in hand on the streets.

Only after the school officially started did Xia Yao realize how far the distance was between Zhou Du and his university. Both schools were nearly at the opposite ends of the city. There were more classes in the first year. Besides going over to Xia Yao’s regularly during the weekends, Zhou Du would spend time with him when he didn’t have any classes. Feeling bad for Zhou Du, Xia Yao would pay him a visit sometimes when he was free. Zhou Du always looked ecstatic whenever he did so.

It was Xia Yao’s birthday not long after the school started. Zhou Du skipped the self-revision class at night and went over to Xia Yao’s university to celebrate it. To surprise Xia Yao, he didn’t tell Xia Yao about it ahead of time. Instead, he booked quite a few dishes at a restaurant near Xia Yao’s school before calling Xia Yao in the private room of the restaurant. However, all calls to Xia Yao were dismissed. Assuming Xia Yao was still in class, Zhou Du went to the first floor of Xia Yao’s dorm after waiting for a while.

Guessing Xia Yao’s class was probably over when it reached 9.30 p.m., Zhou Du gave Xia Yao another call. Xia Yao did answer it, but Zhou Du detected some weariness in his tone. “What’s wrong? You didn’t pick up any of my calls. Did your class just ended?”

Once Xia Yao heard Zhou Du’s question, he raised his energy forcefully, “Yeah… Something like that. How about you? Have you gone back to your dorm?”

Zhou Du wanted to surprise Xia Yao, so he answered, “Yeah, I’m in my dorm. What about you? Back to your dorm yet?”

“I’ve just reached the first floor of my dorm,” Xia Yao paused slightly before he replied.

Zhou Du scanned the surroundings of Xia Yao’s dorm and asked, “You’re on the first floor of your dorm right now?”

“Yeah,” Xia Yao continued answering, “I’m heading upstairs. I’ll be ending the call now; go get some rest.”

Zhou Du’s expression darkened right away. He was standing at the ground floor of the dorm for quite a while. If Xia Yao did return to the dorm, he would definitely spot him. As though he disbelieved Xia Yao, he sprinted up to Xia Yao’s dorm room.

He began knocking on the door. One of Xia Yao’s dorm mates was playing his videogame, while the other was leaning on his bed as he read a book. After sweeping his eyes over the room, Zhou Du asked Xia Yao’s dorm mate, “Where’s Xia Yao?”

“Huh?” the dorm mate who was playing removed his headphone. He turned over and glimpsed at Xia Yao’s bed, “No idea; he’s probably not back yet.”

Zhou Du gripped the door frame, clueless as to why Xia Yao lied to him. Suddenly, his handphone in his pocket vibrated a little. Once Zhou Du took a glance at the screen, he realized it was a message from Xia Yao.

[I’ve reached my room. Go on and rest too. Good night.]

Zhou Du stood by the door of Xia Yao’s dorm room, his eyes glued onto the message.