Chapter 21

Lin Yu's happy life was interrupted by Yue Qianwen's sudden business trip.

The project encountered obstacles, and the supervisor arranged for Yue Qianwen to return to headquarters to help coordinate, which would take about ten days.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yu was struck dumb, his mind went blank, and he realized with shock that he could no longer adapt to life without Yue Qianwen.

After Yue Qianwen left, he lost all motivation to go to and from get off work.

His colleagues noticed his unusual behavior and asked him what was wrong, but he listlessly shook his head. A close female colleague suddenly leaned over and whispered, "Are you thinking of... going after the director?"

Lin Yu was startled and quickly shook his head.

His female colleague, however, understood his meaning and smiled at him.

Lin Yu rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought for a while, then asked, "Sis, wanna have dinner together after get off work? Let's invite Xiao Gu too."

"No, my daughter is waiting for me at home."

"I'll bring my younger sister along."

"She wants to drink porridge, I have to go back and make it for her."

Lin Yuxin's heart sank. For some reason, he also wanted to drink porridge. He imagined that if he suggested it, Yue Qianwen would immediately order groceries, go home and start cooking. In the evening, while he was lying in bed playing a few games, Yue Qianwen would come over and call him for dinner.

Being waited on hand and foot is too comfortable, and suddenly losing that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.

He sent a message to Yue Qianwen, but then remembered the time difference, typed and typed, and then deleted it.

After returning home, he wandered around the neighborhood alone. Once the children in the play area had gone home, he finally found a swing, sat down like a child, swung to the highest point, took a picture, and sent it to Yue Qianwen. Yue Qianwen quickly replied: 【Where are you?】

Lin Yu: [South side of the residential area.]

Yue Qianwen: [Finally won over the kid?]

Lin Yu sent a cool sunglasses emoji.

Yue Qianwen: [I miss you so much.]

Lin Yu's lips drooped immediately.

He was too embarrassed to send "Me too," but Yue Qianwen understood him, and the next message quickly appeared: "I'll be back as soon as possible."

Lin Yu: [You go about your business, I'm not a child anymore.]

Yue Qianwen sent him a photo of him swinging on the swing: 【Who is this little kid?】

Lin Yu blushed, jumped off the swing, and went home.

Remembering his colleague's words, he decided to learn a few dishes while Yue Qianwen was away so he could cook them for him when he returned.

Unfortunately, cooking requires talent. Lin Yu tried several times and ruined a very good non-stick pan that Yue Qianwen had bought. Lin Yu was extremely annoyed and ordered an identical one overnight, hoping that Yue Qianwen wouldn't find out when he returned.

In the end, all he learned was how to make porridge.

This is simple. Just prepare the ingredients, pour them into a clay pot, wait for the pot to boil, then turn off the heat. I tasted it and it was barely drinkable.

I tried it again the next day, and the taste had improved.

He meticulously recorded the exact weight of all the ingredients, down to the gram, and sent Yue Qianwen a message: "You're in for a treat."

Attached is a photo of him with a clay pot of congee.

Yue Qianwen replied: 【Very delicious.】

Lin Yu: [How do you know if you haven't even tried it?]

Yue Qianwen: [I've tried the left side.]

Lin Yu was taken aback. Looking at the picture again, he saw that it was him on the left.

Lin Yu: [...]

Accustomed to Yue Qianwen's silence and seriousness, Lin Yu felt strangely uncomfortable when he occasionally heard him make a slightly risqué joke. He had an inexplicable feeling that Yue Qianwen's hand had already reached down from his lower back and was touching him. A jolt of electricity ran down his back, and his whole body went numb.

The key point is... he still has some thoughts about it.

It's hard to imagine that just a month ago he was a straight man who would react strongly even if Yue Qianwen put his hand on his arm.

But the work there was more complicated than expected, and eight days passed in a flash, and Yue Qianwen still hadn't returned. Lin Yu stayed home alone and did everything he could: cleaning, cooking, visiting his parents, and intentionally or unintentionally mentioning Yue Qianwen to them, praising him to the skies... but Yue Qianwen still hadn't returned.

The two were in different time zones, so they could only make long video calls at the same time. Yue Qianwen was busy working in his hotel room, while Lin Yu stared blankly at his face. The two chatted casually, and Lin Yu kept staring at Yue Qianwen's face, unaware that he was too close to the screen.

From Yue Qianwen's perspective, he saw a small face from top to bottom, with big eyes, fluttering eyelashes, staring straight at him, and an upturned upper lip as if it were holding a grievance.

Work was therefore suspended.

Yue Qianwen returned to the bedroom with his phone and said to Lin Yu, "Mumu, draw the curtains."

"Huh?" Lin Yu didn't understand.

It wasn't until he saw Yue Qianwen lying on the bed that Lin Yu realized what was happening. His face flushed red, and he stammered, "Um...please...please...I can't accept having the camera pointed at me like that..."

"You don't need to move, I'll just watch over you."

Yue Qianwen's voice was noticeably lower and a little hoarse, while Lin Yu's face looked like it was on fire.

"Stop breathing," he muttered softly.

Yue Qianwen's actions became more obvious. "You can mute it, baby."

Lin Yu didn't mute the screen, but instead silently started screen recording.

Although this word sounds strange when describing a man, Lin Yu still wants to say... vibrant and sensual.

He was too embarrassed to make a sound, but his body reacted. Yue Qianwen must have planted some kind of curse on him, so that as soon as he heard Yue Qianwen's breathing, he became completely out of control. He buried himself in the blanket, ignoring the dark screen. Before Yue Qianwen could finish, he muttered, "Yue Qianwen, you're so annoying," his voice trembling at the end.

Yue Qianwen chuckled and said, "Yeah, I'm annoyed."

Yue Qianwen is really annoying, Lin Yu thought; he's too good at loving people.

His eyes easily convey a sense of forever.

Being with him means being prepared to feel anxious and insecure because of his overwhelming love. Fortunately, Lin Yu is slow to react and used to being loved, so even when separated by the ocean, he only misses her.

"I'll definitely be back in a couple of days, before Thursday." The one who is truly anxious and worried is Yue Qianwen.

Hearing this, Lin Yu regained his energy.

He started humming a little tune at work, and his face lit up when he entered the elevator. A female colleague happened to walk in and, seeing his adorable expression, jokingly asked, "What's up? Director Yue is back?"

"not yet."

"Oh? Then what are you happy about?"

Lin Yu frowned. "Strange, why am I only happy when he comes back? There are so many things that could make me happy!"

His female colleague nudged his arm, her face full of gossip: "He's going on a business trip alone, aren't you worried? He grew up in America, his family, social circle, and friends are all there. The work pressure here is so high, what if he doesn't want to come back once he goes back?"

"No," Lin Yu said immediately.

"You're very confident. You weren't like this a while ago."

As we walked, my female colleague said, "I understand the honeymoon phase, but I advise you not to be too careless."

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow, his fingers spreading and then gradually closing, looking completely in control. "Oh, he's not as profound as he seems. It's just that his good looks give you such high expectations of him. Actually... he's quite simple."

The female colleague stopped. "Simple?"

Lin Yu asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, the female colleague smiled, sat down, and turned on her computer. After a while, she suddenly slid down her desk to Lin Yu's side and said, "Little Yu, did you know that my daughter loves to drink porridge?"

"I know," Lin Yu replied, looking completely bewildered.

Do you know what her favorite type of porridge is?

Lin Yu shook his head.

"Century egg and lean pork congee," the female colleague said, enunciating each word clearly. Her eyes crinkled with laughter as she patted Lin Yu on the shoulder. "I reminded you of this a long time ago."

"How about congee with preserved egg and lean pork—" Lin Yu suddenly stopped.

He picked up his phone, opened the chat window of the social media app, saw the netizens he had privately messaged, and then suddenly looked up.

His female colleague smiled at him while holding up her phone; the ID on the screen clearly read—

Century egg congee.

Lin Yu blinked, and it took him a while to remember the comment that had kept him up at night and agonizing over the past few days.

[Century Egg Solo Congee: Same IP address, judging from your profile picture we seem to be from the same city. OP, my friend is also gay, could you introduce him to Mr. A...?]

Depend on!