Breakfast was over. 

Sheng Ping had already left. 

The two ladies stayed at home to clean the house, while the rest of them went out shopping. 

In order to avoid drawing attention to themselves, the ones going out tried to dress simply, and all of them put on masks. 

Shen Jue’s figure and temperament was conspicuous, hence in order to disguise his looks, he even changed into an extremely loose-fitting ankle-length down jacket, and put on a baseball cap to hide his locks. 

The stifling temperament of a superstar and the hormonal feel of a mature man was reduced, and instead, there was an increased youthfulness in him. 

He pushed the trolley and walked in the front leisurely. 

Xia Qingqiao couldn’t resist complimenting him, “Teacher Shen, once you dress like this, you look like you are the same age as Brother Yanshu.” 

Qw Zydpbw, obs oyp nwaaldvzu nbsspkdt psxl rasewnvp: “…”

Tsolhla, Fbld Kwl bye yzalyeu vwadle bkp blye cynj yde oyp pvyakdt nszezu yv Dky Ckdtikys, “Pslp vbyv xlyd vbyv usw saktkdyzzu vbswtbv ol olal qasx vos ekqqlaldv tldlayvksdp?”

Dky Ckdtikys alrzkle vkxkezu, “Rpdv… Rpd’v… Rpd’v vbyv ps?”

Fbld Kwl’p tygl nbkzzle qwavbla, “R’x sdzu vos sa vball ulyap szela vbyd bkx.”

Dky Ckdtikys’p lulp valxczle.

Tsolhla, yp bl vbswtbv ycswv kv qwavbla, kv eke xyjl pldpl. Jsvb sq vblx elcwvle yv vbl pyxl vkxl, ps vblka ytlp oswze cl pkxkzya. Ysalshla, Fbld Kwl oyp tsse-zssjkdt, vbl jkde obs zssjle qypbksdyczl ulv qzyxcsuydv, bldnl kv pwalzu oypd’v clnywpl bl zssjle sze.

Zlv, obu eke bl pwcnsdpnkswpzu vbkdj vbyv Qw Zydpbw oyp xwnb uswdtla vbyd Fbld Kwl?

Dky Ckdtikys qlzv ayvbla nsdqzknvle.

In the end, the only answer he could manage was that Gu Yanshu always exuded a distinctive lonesome youthfulness. 

As Xia Qingqiao pondered further, he felt that he was being rude to Shen Jue back then, hence he prepared to apologise to the latter. 

Unexpectedly, Gu Yanshu spoke up, “Xiao Xia’s right though.” 

Shen Jue diverted his gaze to Gu Yanshu and raised his brow. 

Gu Yanshu chose the ingredients and asked plainly, “How old are you?” 

Shen Jue replied, “Twenty-seven.” 

“What if you round the number up?” 

“Thirty.” 

“How old am I?”

“Twenty-four.” 

“Which rounds up to?” 

“……” 

“There you go. Between us, there’s a ten-year age gap, so what’s wrong with what Xiao Xia said?” Gu Yanshu took the leek that he chose into the trolley, then matched Shen Jue’s gaze, justifiably calm. 

Shen Jue was so livid that he laughed. 

But he couldn’t bear to do anything to Gu Yanshu. 

He could only nod, “Alright, this makes sense. After all, you also address me as your elder brother.” 

“Who addressed you that way?” Gu Yanshu’s tone immediately chilled. 

Shen Jue cocked his head to the side, “Didn’t you use to call me that?” 

Gu Yanshu pursed his lips, choosing to remain silent. 

It was this strange and awkward silence once again. 

Xia Qingqiao felt as though they were going to start a fight in the next second. 

He quickly picked up a box of tomatoes and changed the topic, “That, er, Brother. Didn’t today’s guest ask to have beef brisket with tomatoes? Can we use these?” 

As he said this, he recalled something suddenly, and felt conflicted. “Oh, I recall that Brother Yanshu seems to dislike tomatoes.” 

Just as his words ended. 

Shen Jue turned his head and looked at Xia Qingqiao, “When did he say that he didn’t like eating tomatoes?” 

“On the first night. We were having hotpot then. I was going to put in the tomatoes, but Brother Yanshu didn’t like it, so I placed it back in the kitchen.” Xia Qingqiao was really innocent. 

Shen Jue looked down and chucked, then looked at Gu Yanshu again, “When did you start disliking tomatoes?” 

Gu Yanshu’s expression stilled, “Last year.” 

“Ohh.” Shen Jue nodded thoughtfully, “That’s such a coincidence. I don’t like eating tomatoes too.” 

“Eh? Brother, you don’t like tomatoes too? Oh, I remember now! That day during the lie detector test, you said that you were allergic to tomatoes. Oh my! Brother Yanshu and you are really too compatible!” 

Xia Qingqiao came from a wealthy family, and he was young, so he was simple minded. He had a one-track mind, so he didn’t think of other possibilities. When he said this, he only felt that he was mediating the animosity between the two, and he completely didn’t see anything wrong with his words. 

Shen Jue chuckled hoarsely, “Yup, definitely compatible.” 

Just as he said this, there was a loud crash. 

He turned back to look. 

Gu Yanshu had placed several items into the trolley, but his tone was frigid, “You both can purchase the food items here. I’ll go buy other things, it’s more efficient.” 

He then turned and walked off briskly. 

His back view was a close-up shot of unhappiness. 

Xia Qingqiao blinked innocently. He scratched his head, feeling somewhat uneasy, “Teacher Shen, is Brother Yanshu unhappy? Did I say something wrong just now?” 

Shen Jue patted his shoulder, “No, you said everything that should be said. Stay here and choose the vegetables, I’ll go over to take a look.” 

———————————–

Gu Yanshu had turned and walked off. 

Walked off briskly. 

His expression was sullen, and an angry fire was burning inside him. 

He felt that his anger was unexplainable. 

He was always someone who could control his emotions very well. Perhaps he was innately insipid. Even when he was dealing with Chen Ran and Ding Yun, he didn’t even show an ounce of anger. 

Yet, in just a span of two days, he had so many emotional fluctuations because of Shen Jue. 

Furthermore, he had already thought of keeping his distance from Shen Jue, so that their paths wouldn’t cross. 

Yet, subconsciously, he could always do some inexplicable actions, and after doing so, he would even be exposed in front of Shen Jue, making him appear as though he cared a lot about Shen Jue. 

However, the other party seemed to stake it all into his stead, with a smile, and even said things that would make one livid, yet feel soft in his heart that he couldn’t bear to do so. 

It felt like a game. The other party was an experienced and cunning hunter, waiting for his bait to bite, while he was that foolish little fox who stepped into every single trap. 

He felt dismayed. 

This dismay, together with the aggrieved feelings over the past five years, had subconsciously became some type of inevitable chemical reaction, a special material filled within his chest that was easily flammable, always on the verge of explosion. All it required was a spark. 

Gu Yanshu hated the feeling of losing control. 

Thus, he decided to stay far away from Shen Jue, otherwise he might unknowingly fall into a sugar-coated trap. 

As Gu Yanshu thought about all these, he had already walked to the entrance of the supermarket. He was preparing to get another trolley when he heard a whisper from behind him, “That looks like Gu Yanshu. Shall we go up and take a look?” 

The director had repeatedly warned them that the details of the show couldn’t be revealed. 

Gu Yanshu could only continue to walk towards the entrance, and he pulled down his cap at the same time. 

He quickened his footsteps, trying to lose the people behind him. 

However, those people continued to follow him closely. 

Gu Yanshu had, on countless occasions, experienced the tailing by sasaengs and the paparazzi. He really hated this feeling, but he couldn’t tell if the other party was ill-intentioned. After all, if it was an ordinary fan, he couldn’t appear too cold either. 

Hence, he could only choose to continue walking briskly. 

The footsteps behind also increased their pace. 

If this continued, he wouldn’t be able to shake that person off.  

Gu Yanshu lowered his head and walked quickly, as he tried to think of a way out. He quickly turned at a bend, trying to use this blindspot to stall for some time while he thought of his escape route. 

However, before he could even think about it, when he walked past a narrow lane, he was pulled at the wrist. Caught off guard, he fell into a warm embrace. 

It all happened within a second. 

He felt the other party pressing him downwards, then wrapped him up rightly in a loose-fitting coat and looked down, positioning himself as though they were a couple kissing. 

Gu Yanshu didn’t know how to react. 

It was pitch black in front of him. The familiar Fou d’Absinthe fragrance enveloped his nose. The strong and steady heartbeat that belonged to another man could be heard, and above his head, the continued and fervent breathing was provoking his breaths. 

His senses were limitlessly widened, as though every cell was immersed in the other party’s possessive protection. 

He could even feel it when the other party’s Adam’s apple rolled up and down seductively at the area near his lips. 

A low voice followed. 

“Don’t move. I’ve hidden you safely.” 

[1] Refers to the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, a type of banquet developed during the Qing dynasty. Combining elements of Manchurian and Han Chinese cooking styles, the banquet was said to consist of 300 dishes and the banquet would take place over 3 days.