Lost Soul

Looking at Zhou Lexing, who seemed dazed, Zhou Yuanxiang finally couldn't help but turn her chopsticks around and tap his hand, which was holding the chopsticks without moving, with the end: "What's wrong? Have you lost your soul at the police station?"

When Zhou Lexing came to his senses, he heard the key word "police station" and quickly said, "No, I was acting in self-defense."

Zhou Yuanxiang had naturally heard the general outline of the matter, and she neither agreed nor disagreed with Zhou Lexing's words.

In the past, she would definitely not want Zhou Lexing to cause trouble, but the recent events in Zhou Laozhuang made her realize that giving in all the time is not necessarily a good thing. As long as Zhou Lexing does not cause trouble on his own initiative, turning a blind eye is not necessarily a bad thing. But this attitude must not be known to her third son, otherwise his tail that he has finally managed to suppress will definitely be wagging its tail again.

"Where's Jian Sheng? Why didn't you bring him home for dinner?"

Zhou Yuanxiang and Zhou Lanhua grew up together, but after they got married, many things changed drastically. Their respective regretful lives made them lose contact with each other, but their friendship remained. Zhou Yuanxiang found it hard to ignore Zhou Lanhua, the child who was left alone in the village.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lexing was stunned for a moment before suddenly standing up: "Damn! I forgot about that!"

Zhou Yuanxiang and Zhou Shusheng, who was engrossed in their meal, were both startled by his inexplicable behavior. Before they could say anything, they saw him put down his bowl and run outside. When he reached the door, he shouted, "I'm going to call Jian Sheng over for dinner!"

Zhou Yuanxiang's forehead twitched: "That unlucky kid."

I wonder who he took after to have such a fiery and impulsive personality.

When Zhou Lexing saw the Gu family's gate from afar, he slowed his pace. His rapid heartbeat led to his rapid breathing, but he did not feel tired. Instead, it was the emotions emanating from within his body that were tugging at his body.

'But I also want your sleep-with-me service…'

The slightly cool touch of his arm still seemed to linger, and Zhou Lexing stopped, scratching his hair in slight distress.

There was nothing wrong with what he said; he often joked like that with his friends. But why did it make him so uncomfortable when Gu Jiansheng said it?

Zhou Lexing felt he needed to clear his head; it wasn't normal to be making up stories about his good brother in his mind like this.

Could it be that I've been influenced by this gay world?

Zhou Lexing paced back and forth, then looked up at the sky. He finally managed to suppress the turbulent thoughts that had been swirling around him after hearing those words. He took a deep breath and prepared to knock on the door, but when he turned around, he saw that the Gu family's door was already open. Gu Jiansheng was standing by the door, looking at him quietly, with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Zhou Lexing's already unclear mind instantly turned into mush. The heat scorched his brain, his cheeks burned, and his ten fingers curled up involuntarily. He wished he could disappear on the spot. He felt ashamed, too ashamed!

How long has Jian Sheng been staring at him blankly at the sky like that?!

ah--!

Zhou Lexing was internally screaming and running for his life, but on the surface he kept a straight face: "Ahem, let's go, let's go home for dinner."

Gu Jiansheng tilted his head to one side slightly, as if to examine him more closely: "I'm full."

Zhou Lexing couldn't stand Gu Jiansheng scrutinizing him so closely, so he simply stepped forward and pulled him out: "Then have another bowl."

As Gu Jiansheng watched Zhou Lexing's slightly flustered back, the palm of his hand gripping Zhou's wrist was warm and dry. In a daze, he felt as if he had returned to the time when the two of them first met in this life.

With that flying kitchen knife and that chaotic first impression, Gu Jiansheng could never have imagined that their relationship would come to this.

So, does that mean he can be a little bolder in his expectations for their future relationship?

Fate wouldn't let him take He Huaizhi's life, so it's fair to give him Zhou Lexing instead.

He Huaizhi walked out of the alley and watched the two leave hand in hand. His expression changed several times. He was about to take a step away, but stopped when he saw the door that was not closed properly.

He hesitated for a moment, then quickly strode over and entered the Gu family's residence.

The strangeness of Gu Jiansheng and Zhou Lexing in this life is obvious to the naked eye. There must be something wrong with this. If you really think about it, you can see it from the disappearance of Zhou Lanhua. Gu Jiansheng should have gone to the city, so why is it Zhou Lanhua who left Zhoujia Village?

Although Gu Jiansheng looked gentle and charming, the pushing force he felt when he couldn't see could not be fake. He couldn't convince himself that Gu Jiansheng pushed him by falling twice. Thinking of this, He Huaizhi even had some dark suspicions.

He knew exactly how Zhou Lanhua treated her own son. The striking resemblance between Gu Jiansheng and his father had caused Gu Jiansheng a lot of trouble, and the tenderness that Gu Jiansheng showed to him in those eyes was incomparable to that of Zhou Lexing.

Not to mention Zhou Lexing's attitude towards him, which was completely different from how he treated Gu Jiansheng.

He is clearly the chosen one, so why is it that he can't even get over the first hurdle in his life?

He Huaizhi would never believe that his luck had ended there. His charm and ability were still there, and the infatuation of others with him had not changed. All the problems lay with Gu Jiansheng.

He Huaizhi entered the Gu family's house in the dark, turned on his lighter, looked around in the flickering light, and without much hesitation, went to push open Zhou Lanhua's door.

As the door creaked open, He Huaizhi's heart jumped uncontrollably. He was both afraid of seeing something he shouldn't have, and hoped to see some evidence to support his thoughts. Fear and anticipation surged into his heart, making his hand holding the lighter tremble slightly.

The lighter, its flame trembling along with his finger, was pushed forward.

It seemed like no one had been inside for a long time; a dusty smell wafted out. He Huaizhi held his breath and stepped inside.

The room was simply furnished with a bed, a dressing table, a chair, and a desk by the window with a shelf on it. These were precious items a decade or so ago, but they are not rare now.

Everything was arranged very neatly.

He Huaizhi glanced around briefly, and apart from the eerie atmosphere created by the dim environment, there seemed to be nothing to prove his idea.

He Huaizhi couldn't tell whether he felt relieved or unwilling. He glanced around one last time and was about to step out when he felt something was wrong. He passed the torch towards the dressing table and examined it closely before his gaze settled on the crochet hook and ball of yarn on the table.

.

"Do you want to keep it?"

Gu Jiansheng looked at the black dog following closely behind him.

When the black dog saw Zhou Lexing turn around, it immediately grinned and showed a smile, though it was unclear whether it truly understood the meaning of that expression.

Zhou Lexing: "Trees grow and need nurturing."

Actually, for his family, raising a dog is neither a difficult thing nor a bad thing. It can guard the house and make him feel more at ease. However, Zhou's mother mainly makes the decisions in the family, and Zhou Lexing does not interfere in this matter. But judging from Zhou Shusheng's enthusiasm for the black dog, he probably wants to keep it. And Zhou's mother seems to let it be, so it should be officially adopted soon.

Gu Jiansheng: "Is it okay for it to follow us like this?"

If we keep following, we'll reach the Gu family.

Zhou Lexing: "It's good that Shusheng isn't home because he's doing his homework."

Otherwise, Zhou Shusheng could write a single character and play for an hour. It's unclear how the man and the dog communicate; they play together so well without using language. In the past few days, Zhou Lexing, the most popular third brother, seems to have lost a level in Zhou Shusheng's mind, probably ranking behind this dog.

Gu Jiansheng couldn't help but chuckle: "Are you jealous of a dog?"

Zhou Lexing argued: "Shusheng used to be the most attached to me, his third brother, but if you ask him now, he probably won't even know where I went."

Dogs don't need to understand the complexities of human troubles.

After Zhou Lexing turned around, the black dog quickly came running over, its trotting feet twitching as it approached. The distance between them shortened, but it still didn't dare to rub against Zhou Lexing's feet like it did with Zhou Shusheng. However, its excited and cheerful appearance made Gu Jiansheng turn around to check on it again and again.

Gu Jiansheng suddenly said, "It looks like you."

Zhou Lexing was confused: "???"

He looked back again, and this time the black dog seemed to have received great encouragement. It immediately closed the distance and walked next to Zhou Lexing, with one dog head behind, looking up at him expectantly.

Zhou Lexing: "..." Is this a compliment?

The Gu family's gate was ajar, but neither of them seemed to care.

The room was pitch black. Zhou Lexing watched Gu Jiansheng fumble for matches to light the candle, and felt a strange sense of temporal displacement. He couldn't help but laugh: "If there were a knife and fork on the table, it would be a ready-made candlelight dinner..."

Zhou Lexing abruptly stopped speaking. Gu Jiansheng turned to look at him in the candlelight, his eyes holding a half-smile, as if he were trying to see into Zhou Lexing's eyes.

Zhou Lexing coughed awkwardly, "Well, I'll fetch water and mop the floor, it'll be cooler that way."

The 'modern' handmade mop was hanging on one end of the clothesline in the yard.

Gu Jiansheng blinked as he watched Zhou Lexing's slightly flustered figure.

He thought of how Zhou Lexing was different from his previous ten-odd lifetimes, the 'seaweed rice ball' he jokingly mentioned that night, and the candlelight dinner he was about to casually mention tonight...

Gu Jiansheng put the matches back in the cabinet without saying anything, and went to the yard to help fetch water. His gaze casually swept over the always-closed door before moving away.

"..." Gu Jiansheng stopped and turned to look at Zhou Lanhua's door again. This time he looked very carefully, but as his gaze froze, his heart seemed to skip a beat, and his breathing became disordered. For a moment, fear and cowardice pulled him back, making him afraid to go forward to confirm.

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Lexing quickly noticed Gu Jiansheng's unusual behavior. Following Gu Jiansheng's gaze, he asked in surprise, "Aunt Lan is back?"

Aside from seeing Zhou Lanhua once at the clinic, Zhou Lexing hadn't seen her again. He didn't know what had happened, but Zhou Lanhua had gone to the city instead of Gu Jiansheng's original route. However, the door was still closed, and there was nothing unusual at first glance.

“No,” Gu Jiansheng quickly composed himself, “Someone has already been here, it wasn’t my mother.”

There was a bolt outside the door that hadn't been used for a long time; it was often used as a door knocker when entering or leaving.

Now the bolt handle that was originally pressed against the door has stood up, like a finger pointing at Gu Jiansheng, silently confronting him.