Chapter 48

"Brother clearly told me that I don't need to prepare anything."

Chu Linchuan asked: "When did he tell you?"

"Last time, he asked me if I wanted to celebrate my birthday with you."

"You believe what he says...be quiet, or he might hear you later."

Chu Linchuan buttoned the last button and opened the middle partition. Xia Lanzheng had put on her top shirt and was lifting her right leg, clumsily pulling the shirt clip on.

I knew he was fair, but I didn't expect the parts that he usually covered were even whiter, and his legs were so long and straight.

Chu Linchuan glanced at Xia Lanzheng's legs, was silent for two seconds, said nothing, and then pulled the partition closed with a "whoosh".

"Wait, wait!" Xia Lanzheng held his hand. "Brother, how do I get this thing?"

Chu Linchuan looked straight ahead and slightly lowered his gaze, just enough to see Xia Lanzheng's chin.

"Secure the leg loops mid-thigh."

Xia Lanzheng struggled with her shirt clip for quite a while, and since she couldn't stop talking, she kept saying bad things about Chu Linyu to Chu Linchuan. Not only did she get her face flushed, but a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Chu Linchuan's chin turned into the top of his head, and his long curly hair swayed in front of him. An annoyed complaint came from his chest: "Okay, can you not wear it? Chu Linchuan, are you dressed? Let me see."

Chu Linchuan almost laughed out of anger at his request.

He pressed Xia Lanzheng's forehead and reached down with his other hand: "Just adjust the height... Xia Lanzheng, don't move."

With his palm covering Xia Lanzheng's warm skin, Chu Linchuan hooked his fingers and inserted them between the shirt clip and skin.

He immediately understood what Xia Lanzheng meant by "Le".

The locker room was spacious and the air conditioning was on high, but perhaps because he was too close to Xia Lanzheng, Chu Linchuan also began to feel hot.

Not only that, the air was becoming thinner, and he slid his Adam's apple and pulled it down quickly.

"Okay," Chu Linchuan finished, took a step back, and twirled his fingertips. "You can do the rest of the metal clip yourself, right?"

Xia Lanzheng picked up a rope, blinked, and asked, "Are you talking about this? Where should I clip it?"

He looked up and saw Chu Linchuan's expression. He paused, thinking that Chu Linchuan was getting impatient with him. "Forget it, I'll search it online."

Search it?

Chu Linchuan adjusted his tie and saw Xia Lanzheng actually took out her cell phone and left him there to start typing.

"Are you guys done?" Chu Linyu shouted through the door as footsteps approached. "I've already finished a game, why haven't you come out yet?"

Xia Lanzheng shouted back, "Almost there! Right now!"

Chu Linchuan was still standing aside, looking very handsome in his suit and tie, except for a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Brother, do you want to go out first? You seem so hot."

Hearing the noise outside, Chu Linyu didn't walk far and sat down on the sofa.

Chu Linchuan felt a little ridiculous for a moment. He took off his glasses and put them in his chest pocket. He lowered his head and saw Xia Lanzheng's bare legs.

There were some marks on her thighs from being pinched by the black shirt, and Xia Lanzheng's hands were rubbing back and forth on the edges.

Chu Linchuan raised his eyebrows and pinched his fingers: "How is it, have you learned it?"

Xia Lanzheng's fingertips trembled, and she seemed a little surprised. She said blankly, "I haven't found a suitable tutorial yet."

"Well, the online teaching is not good." Chu Linchuan said calmly, as if stating an established fact, and said slowly, "Take this one first."

He held Xia Lanzheng's hand, touched one of the metal clips, lifted the tip up, squeezed it hard, and then released it. The buckle tightly clamped the front of the shirt.

Xia Lanzheng felt a slight pull on her leg, but her attention was more drawn to Chu Linchuan's hand.

Chu Linchuan had a silver ring on his index finger, and the coolness of it passed to Xia Lanzheng's hand, which made him startled.

Maybe we're getting... too close.

Chu Linchuan's voice was as cold as the silver ring, and it came close to Xia Lanzheng's ear: "The second one, do you know how to do it?"

If Xia Lanzheng were a cat, or some other small animal, others would be able to see his standing fur at a glance.

He didn't know where to look, and inadvertently glanced at Chu Linchuan's hand. It was like touching a hot flame, and he was too nervous to look any longer.

But this is strange. The ring is obviously cold, so why is it so hot?

"Xia Lanzheng," Chu Linchuan stood in front of him, suddenly raised his free hand and tapped the tip of his ear, "Are you listening?"

Xia Lanzheng took a deep breath, which was held in her nose until it didn't sink down. She spoke with a choking cough, "I know. I'm listening!"

Chu Linchuan remained calm and unhurried: "You can handle the last one yourself."

He took the metal clip and touched Xia Lanzheng's skin exposed to the air. Xia Lanzheng shivered from the cold, but her body felt unnaturally hot.

Chu Linchuan let go and glanced outside the locker room: "Hurry up, Chu Linyu is still waiting. Do you want him to know that you don't know how to wear a shirt clip? That would be weird, Zhengzheng."

Xia Lanzheng didn't know how Chu Linyu would react. He only knew that he had become very strange. Just by changing his clothes, he actually felt a sense of... shame.

The person in front of him is his brother, what is there to be ashamed of!

Pursing her lips and meeting Chu Linchuan's gaze, Xia Lanzheng's mind went blank for a moment. She opened and closed her eyes and randomly fastened the last metal clip.

He heard Chu Linchuan say with a smile: "Zheng Zheng is really good, she learns very quickly."

Xia Lanzheng often heard Yang Yuxiao praise him like this, but when the words passed through Chu Linchuan's mouth, something felt wrong.

His eyelids couldn't help twitching twice. He picked up his suit pants and kept looking at the floor without daring to look up.

Two seconds later, a loud noise was heard in the locker room.

Chu Linchuan and Chu Linyu looked at each other, one stood by the door, and the other sat on the sofa playing games.

"What's wrong?" Chu Linyu scratched his head.

Chu Linchuan sat next to him, unscrewed the water and took a sip: "Nothing, it's too crowded in there, I'll come out and wait."

Chu Linyu turned off his phone and looked at him: "There was a loud noise. Why did I feel like you were kicked out?"

The actual situation was similar. Chu Linchuan glanced at the locker room and seemed to still hear some rustling sounds.

"How is that possible? You should play fewer games. It's damaging your hearing."

*

It was Xia Lanzheng's first time attending a real banquet, and she found everything strange.

He followed Chu Linchuan, and whenever Chu Linchuan called him "Mr. Lin," he would follow suit. Whenever Chu Linchuan smiled at someone, he would raise his glass and smile too.

After half the game, one of the birthday boys was already tired. Chu Linchuan said to him in a telepathic way: "Do you see where Dad is? Go sit with him. No one dares to disturb you."

"Why?" Xia Lanzheng looked into the corner and saw Chu Lang sitting near the dining table, but no one came forward.

"He's socially anxious," Chu Linchuan suppressed a laugh. "Everyone knows that. We usually wait until the second half to discuss serious matters with him."

Xia Lanzheng: “…”

How is this not considered a genetic thing?

The two feared people sat down here, and the surroundings were unusually quiet. After a few minutes, Chu Lang stood up and left, returning with a tray.

"Blueberry cake." Chu Lang said.

"Yes, my favorite taste." Xia Lanzheng helped him finish his sentence.

In fact, when Yang Yuxiao was around, Xia Lanzheng could get along well with his father, and they could even chat about the plots of TV dramas.

However, Yang Yuxiao went to chat with her sisters, Chu Linyu was fooling around somewhere, and Xia Lanzheng sat upright, eating blueberry cake seriously.

"Chu Linchuan said you quit." Chu Lang said suddenly.

Xia Lanzheng swallowed a bite of cake and patted her chest: "Yes, I..."

Chu Lang nodded: "Do you want to come to work in the company?"

"No," Xia Lanzheng refused flatly, "I don't want to go, is that okay?"

"Okay." Chu Lang said briefly and didn't say anything else.

Xia Lanzheng was puzzled for a moment, surprised that she wasn't questioned. "Dad, aren't you going to ask me what I'm going to do?"

Not only Chu Lang, no one in the family asked him what his next plans were.

Chu Lang looked at him and said naturally, "You young people have your own things to do, so we won't ask about them."

Xia Lanzheng was immediately moved and raised her glass: "Dad, you are really very kind."

Chu Lang glanced at his goblet and said, "I won't drink the juice you're drinking with you."

When it comes to dry humor, his father is the best. Xia Lanzheng laughed, and regardless of Chu Lang's reaction, she clinked another cup on the table and took a sip of the soda that Chu Linchuan had specially prepared for him.

He wanted to say something else to Chu Lang, but the sofa beside him sank and Cheng Lan sat down over him without him noticing.

Chu Lang glanced over and let out a breath from his nose.

"Zheng Zheng, Uncle Chu," Cheng Lan greeted them one by one. "Long time no see, Uncle Chu, why haven't you been to have tea with my dad recently?"

"Your father apologized to me as soon as he saw me. I couldn't bear it." Chu Lang said expressionlessly.

Xia Lanzheng couldn't help herself at all and let out a "puff", attracting both of them to look over here.

Cheng Lan scratched his nose, unsure what to say. Xia Lanzheng was glad to have something to do, and he didn't finish the cake, so he just ignored it.

Chu Lang and Cheng Lan had nothing to talk about. It was probably because he was really dissatisfied with Cheng Lan. He glanced at him from time to time, which scared Cheng Lan so much that he broke out in cold sweats.

Xia Lanzheng had just finished her last bite when Cheng Lan asked pointedly, "Are you still eating? I'll get it."

Chu Lang stood up at this time: "You guys chat." Then he gave the space to the two young men and walked into the crowd with a glass of wine.

Xia Lanzheng glanced at her father's back. Cheng Lan brought back a new plate with a piece of green grape cake on it.

"I can't eat anymore," Xia Lanzheng forked the grapes off the top, "You eat it."

Cheng Lan shook his head and refused to eat. The two of them sat by the cake for five minutes. When others saw them together, they didn't dare to come over and talk to them.

The story of the Cheng family's young master's Weibo confession was a hot topic, known to everyone present. The story of sworn enemies becoming lovers was truly worth gossip about.

No, this thing didn't work out. No one could help but laugh at the young master of the Chu family's rejection words.

The elders just thought it was a child's prank. Business still had to be done and cooperation still had to be discussed. Since Mr. Chu and Mr. Cheng didn't react much, everyone just laughed it off.

But it was different for my peers, who gathered in groups and urged their friends to go over and eat melons. Before they could decide who would go, someone already sat down at the table.

"Zheng Zheng, long time no see."

The same rhetoric made Cheng Lan turn around and look. Xia Lanzheng's response to Su Cheng was different from the one she gave him.

"Su Cheng!" The emotional value is particularly sufficient.

Tsk.

Su Cheng smiled and said, "Happy birthday. I've sent the gift to your home."

Cheng Lan had been nervous since he sat there, but then he remembered the important matter: "Zheng Zheng, happy birthday."

Xia Lanzheng thanked each of the two people on her left and right. He leaned back on the sofa, and Su Cheng and Cheng Lan met each other's eyes.

The two originally gentle gazes suddenly became alert. Su Cheng asked, "Why are you here?"

Cheng Lan tried to hold back, but couldn't help himself: "You are here, why can't I?"

Xia Lanzheng glared and sat back, blocking the knife-like gazes that were meeting her.

"Don't argue, don't argue. We are all friends. What's there to argue about?"

As he spoke, he pulled Cheng Lan and Su Cheng's hands together, pulled them towards the middle, and held them tightly.

"Handshake." Xia Lanzheng said.

Cheng Lan's face was pale, and Su Cheng's face was full of disgust. They held it casually twice, then let go and wiped it on their clothes.

Xia Lanzheng saw it all, muttered something, picked up the fork and started eating the grape cake on the table without any grapes.

Ten minutes later, Chu Linyu came in from the main gate with two companions, looked around, and finally locked onto Xia Lanzheng's location.

Xia Lanzheng was blindfolded and her arms were held up. People around her laughed and cheered. Chu Linyu said to her, "Zhengzheng, I have a surprise for you."

The fork fell onto the plate, or perhaps onto the floor, and no one paid any attention to the incident.

Xia Lanzheng suddenly felt uneasy and turned her head this way and that, but she could see nothing. He was being half-carried, half-hugged, and moved to a different location, seemingly outside, with a sea breeze blowing.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

No one answered, but someone wiped the corner of his mouth for him. He guessed it was Chu Linchuan because his tongue licked the ring.

I could hear the sound of footsteps, and my body was moving upwards as if going up the stairs.

Xia Lanzheng grew increasingly nervous, and soon after, earmuffs were placed on her head. After several minutes, he landed firmly on the ground, and the cloth in front of him was suddenly removed.

The blinding light made him squint, and in a trance he saw the figures of Chu Linchuan and Chu Linyu. In another blink, the world became clear, but Xia Lanzheng could hear nothing.

Cruise ship, sea... He looked from afar and saw Song Xinghuai's figure at the other end.

With a bang, the earmuffs were taken off and Chu Linyu opened a bottle of champagne.

Xia Lanzheng felt as if she was enveloped in a bell, and could only hear the dull cheers coming from outside.

“Surprise!”