Chapter 85 N - Leak

The two returned to the master bedroom's walk-in closet together to change clothes and prepare to go out.

Chu Beiling was in a good mood and brought up the old topic again, jokingly teasing Xing Yu about his appearance in front of the computer: "President Xing, aren't you afraid they'll make you stand up again?"

Xing Yu took off his shirt and hung it back up, saying seriously, "It's not like it's an online interview."

Chu Beiling chuckled softly, "I never expected you to do this, it's quite amusing."

Xing Yu said, "At home, I do whatever is convenient for me; there aren't many rules."

Chu Beiling smiled and nodded. Even though this was perfectly normal, he still found it very interesting, and even super cute, when it happened to Xing Yu.

As expected of Princess Xing, she's both willful and adorable.

Xing Yu asked, puzzled, "Is it that funny?"

Chu Beiling nodded vigorously: "Hmm, it's rare to see you slacking off like this, it's quite a novelty."

Xing Yu took off his coat and threw it on his head. "Hurry up, don't dawdle."

The clothes still retained Xing Yu's distinctive faint lemon scent. Chu Beiling reached out and pulled off the coat, putting it on herself: "I'm all dressed."

Xing Yu's clothes were a size too big for him, and were a little loose on him, but not bad. Chu Beiling stood in front of the full-length mirror, shook himself, and nodded at Xing Yu.

He plans to wear Xing Yu's coat out today.

Seeing his slightly smug look, Xing Yu chuckled and put on another navy blue trench coat.

After changing their clothes, the two went out. Xing Yu held Chu Beiling's hand, and the warmth from his body gradually transferred to his palm, through his skin, and flowed from his blood to his limbs and bones.

Chu Beiling brushed his fingertips against him, and Xing Yu loosened his grip on his hand slightly, interlocking their fingers.

When they reached the underground parking garage, Chu Beiling still craved his warmth, feeling as if a part of her body had been removed, and she felt like something was missing.

Like a child experiencing separation anxiety, Chu Beiling watched Xing Yu get into the driver's seat before opening the passenger door and getting in herself.

Xing Yu bent down to fasten his seatbelt and was about to step back.

Chu Beiling grabbed Xing Yu by the collar and pulled him to her side, planting a deep and heavy kiss on his lips.

Their eyes met, and Chu Beiling smiled casually: "I don't like owing people."

Xing Yu stared at him for half a second, then grabbed his head and leaned down to kiss him back. Their lips and teeth intertwined, and the temperature around them rose rapidly until they couldn't breathe. Xing Yu then took pity on him and let him go.

Xing Yu said in a serious tone, "You're welcome, me too."

Chu Beiling pushed him away: "You're such a hypocrite."

Xing Yu's lips curled up: "Thank you for the compliment, it's an honor. I will definitely fulfill President Chu's wish..." He leaned closer and whispered in Chu Beiling's ear: "You're being indecent."

The warm breath tickled her ear. Chu Beiling raised her eyes slightly, but before she could make a move, Xing Yu had already sat back down steadily, started the gas, and drove the car away with one hand on the steering wheel.

Chu Beiling gritted his teeth. Damn it, he always picks a time when he can't make a move. He's utterly wicked. Hmph, one day I'll make you call me daddy.

As the car drove out of the underground parking garage, swathes of sunlight streamed in, and the city of Hangzhou, which had been shrouded in a layer of gray, came alive again as the fog dissipated and the rain stopped.

Xing Yu asked, "Where do you want to go?"

Chu Beiling tapped the center console casually with his fingers, his tone more relaxed than ever before: "Let's follow that car with the chopped chili fish head in front. Wherever he goes, we'll go. Let's see what kind of blind boxes we can open."

Xing Yu chuckled softly: "What if he leads us astray?"

Chu Beiling laughed along: "What else can we do but squat inside?"

The two laughed for a while.

Xing Yu smiled faintly and said, "So be it, it's fine."

Chu Beiling said, "I think it's good too."

After exiting the elevated road, the chopped chili fish head caravan drove through a maze of turns to reach the wetland park. Lin Tingdao used to often take them to sketch nearby, but Chu Beiling and Xing Yu weren't very interested.

The former was afraid of losing control of his emotions, while the latter felt that it was really boring inside and had been there too many times.

Xing Yu suggested, "It's not far from Xigao, shall we go take a look?"

Chu Beiling was somewhat dazed. After a moment of silence, she replied, "Okay, I'll go back and take a look."

Except when students leave for school or return to school, Xigao and the surrounding residential buildings are desolate, much like I remember.

During the winter break, students were on holiday, but security guards remained at the school gate. Xing Yu and Chu Beiling walked to the school gate, intending to tell the security guards that they wanted to go in and take a look.

The security guard was about to refuse them, but then he felt the two boys looked too familiar. He pointed at them, and after a while, he realized, "Oh, it's you guys."

Surprisingly, the security guard recognized them.

Chu Beiling was somewhat surprised: "Uncle, you still remember us?"

The security guard chuckled: "The 2012 art class, right? I remember correctly?"

Xing Yu smiled and said, "Yes."

The security guard chuckled and said, "I agree. All the kids in your art class this year are so beautiful, it's hard not to remember them."

Chu Beiling and Xing Yu exchanged a glance, both of them lowering their heads and smiling shyly.

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, I explained to the uncle the reason for my visit.

Since it was a holiday and there were no students at the school, they didn't leave their ID cards, and the security guard let them in directly and told them...

"Come out quickly after you're done looking at it, don't linger on campus for too long."

The two agreed and stepped into their old school side by side.

Apart from the renovated exterior walls of the teaching buildings, the increasingly advanced desks, chairs, and teaching equipment, and the new sign and catchy name for the second canteen, the rest of the campus has not been swept away by time and has retained its original appearance.

The two walked along Osmanthus Avenue toward the Art Garden.

Since classes weren't in session, the aluminum alloy sliding doors of the school building's staircase were closed, preventing them from going upstairs. They could only linger on the first floor.

The curtains in the art classroom on the first floor were not closed, and you could see rows of drawing boards standing side by side in the classroom, not too far apart, and plaster and still life objects piled up in the corner of the classroom.

Thinking back to how his relationship with Xing Yu wasn't good shortly after the start of high school, but Grandma Chen asked him to bring snacks to Xing Yu, and the two faced off across the wall—

And throughout their entire first year of high school, they spent three days a week in this art classroom, doing nothing but drawing.

The memories that had been forcibly buried surged back, and Chu Beiling dared not look at the drawing boards displayed in the classroom, fearing that she might have a seizure and lose control on the spot.

He quickly pulled Xing Yu towards the exit of the art building: "Let's go take a look at the playground."

After walking a distance, Xing Yu asked, "Chu Beiling, why don't you dare to look?" It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Didn't the security guard tell us not to linger on campus for too long?" Chu Beiling explained the reason in a very reasonable and normal way, as if she didn't know: "If we can't go up to the art building and just stay here, we won't have time to explore other places."

Chu Beiling didn't intend to hide it from Xing Yu for too long, and she could roughly guess that he might not believe this excuse.

But he knew that as long as he didn't want to talk about it, Xing Yu would never ask any more questions and would respect his choice no matter what happened.

Just as Chu Beiling had expected, Xing Yu stared at him intently for a long time before finally nodding and following him toward the playground.

As I passed the auditorium, a figure emerged from it. The person was talking with their head down, looking anxious. They probably didn't notice the uneven path and tripped, falling forward.

Chu Beiling reacted quickly, grabbing the other person's arm and helping them steady themselves.

She looked up, about to thank him, but froze: "Prince Fanfan..."

Chu Beiling also recognized the woman in front of him: "Renyi?"

Ren Yi was already surprised to see Chu Beiling here, and when he saw Xing Yu beside her, he was even more surprised: "You, how come you two are together? Didn't you say you... have a boyfriend?"

She didn't say the second half of her sentence, afraid of displeasing Xing Yu, and swallowed it back.

She blinked and asked, "How did you all end up here?"

Chu Beiling smiled and said, "I just happened to have some free time, so I came to visit. What about you?"

He nodded casually. "Xigao hasn't changed much over the years."

After saying that, she explained, "I am now the instructor of the art class at Xigao High School. I left something at school and came to get it. I'm about to leave now."

Chu Beiling nodded. "We're planning to go out. Let's go together."

The three of them walked towards the school gate together, chatting idly. Chu Beiling greeted the security guard and then left.

Before leaving, Chu Beiling asked her, "How are you getting back?"

Renyi: "You don't need to worry about me, I'll just call a ride-hailing service."

Chu Beiling looked at Xing Yu with a questioning gaze.

Xing Yu understood and asked Ren Yi directly, "Where do you want to go? We'll take you there. It's hard to get a ride-hailing service these days."

Renyi was about to refuse, not wanting to trouble them, when her unfortunate husband, who had only recently registered their marriage, urged her to hurry over and not keep her family waiting.

Xigao is already quite remote, and it's busier than ever during the Spring Festival. Unfortunately, her car was taken in for repairs a couple of days ago, and she still hasn't been able to accept her ride-hailing order placed half an hour ago.

During the Spring Festival, the subway hours were extended, and she needed to take the subway and then transfer to a bus to get to her destination, so she was in a bit of a rush.

She silently cursed her unlucky husband, who had time to urge her but no time to come pick her up. Looking up at the two of them, she gave them an address, feeling quite embarrassed: "Then I'll trouble you."

Xing Yu: "We're going the same way."

Chu Beiling smiled and comforted her, "It's alright, no trouble at all."

As the car drove onto the main road, Ren Yi, sitting in the back seat, sent a message to Wang Qi: "Guess who I saw when I went back to school to get something?"

Wang Qi: [A living Michelangelo.]

Any answer: [No, Chu Beiling and Xing Yu.]

Wang Qi jumped out of bed: [What's going on?! Didn't Prince Fanfan have a new boyfriend? How did these two get back together?!]

Then came the reply: "Could it be that the Corgi is talking nonsense?! Our little prince Fanfan isn't with anyone else, and that idiot Corgi has misunderstood?!"

Most people working in the arts have strong observational skills and a greater sensitivity to emotions.

Renyi glanced at the two of them furtively: [Just like before, nothing special seemed amiss. At first glance, they seemed like ordinary friends, but there was something strangely special about them, like an iceberg, with turbulent undercurrents hidden beneath the surface, unknown to anyone.]

"So there's something going on then." Wang Qi wondered, "What did Corgi say in the group chat? Is there something else going on? Prince Fanfan doesn't seem like the type to be two-timing."

She concluded: "How dare he spread such rumors? I'll kill him!"

Knowing Wang Qi's personality, Ren Yi quickly stopped her: "No, what if we guess wrong and it makes everyone awkward?"

Wang Qi agreed: "I won't do anything reckless."

Even after all this time, I still think, like you, that Prince Fanfan wouldn't be the type to two-time. Ke Jincheng has most likely misunderstood something.

Renyi said: "We'll know if there's good news."

Wang Qi: [Anyway, now that they've met again, I'm finally not so heartbroken anymore. Otherwise, I really would have wanted to chop Xue Ziang up.]

Nods casually: [Mm.]

She looked up at the two people in front of her again, feeling both touched and relieved.

That bombshell back then affected many people in the class, with Xing Yu and Chu Beiling being the most severely affected.

Fortunately, the future is long, and there's still time for everything.