Bonus Chapter 1: My boyfriend is afraid I'll elope with my brother.
Lu Zhian invited Gu Yingshen out for fun. Upon hearing it was Gu Yingshen, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Jin insisted on coming along. Lu Zhian then asked Gu Yingshen to bring Yin Qin along as well.
Lu Zhian and Gu Yingshen left Xiao Yuan, Xiao Jin, and Yin Qin at a nearby coffee shop. Then they left side by side, one aloof and distant, the other calm and undisturbed, their temperaments so different yet strangely harmonious, and they quickly disappeared around the street corner.
The atmosphere in the window-side booths of the coffee shop was somewhat stagnant.
Xiao Yuan stirred his now slightly cold coffee, his gaze still fixed on the direction where the two had disappeared. He suddenly spoke, his voice low and deep, as if talking to himself, yet also as if addressing someone nearby: "Are you really okay with them just leaving like that?"
Xiao Jin, standing nearby, immediately chimed in like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his tone exaggerated: "Exactly! What if those two elope?!"
Sitting across from them, Yin Qin paused, his hand still holding his coffee cup, his face showing genuine confusion and bewilderment: "...?" Elopement? Who? Gu Yingshen and Lu Zhian? What does this have to do with anything?
Xiao Yuan glanced at Yin Qin's bewildered expression, seemingly feeling it necessary to give this "outsider" a brief explanation of the "historical background."
He spoke calmly, but dropped a bombshell: "Back when the 'designer' disappeared and the 'illustrator' 'died,' everyone in our circle was saying that the 'illustrator' had committed suicide with the 'designer.'"
Yin Qin's hand, holding the coffee cup, froze completely, his pupils dilating slightly. A double suicide? Gu Yingshen?
Xiao Jin nodded vigorously beside him, adding evidence and trying to strengthen the persuasiveness: "Many people have thought they are a perfect match, a couple!" His tone was certain, as if he were stating a universally acknowledged fact.
Yin Qin fell silent. He recalled Gu Yingshen's unusual attitude when she mentioned "designer," and the fact that Lu Zhian could easily call Gu Yingshen out... A corner of his heart began to waver slightly.
Seeing Yin Qin deep in thought, Xiao Yuan slowly added fuel to the fire, posing another intriguing question: "Guess why, out of so many people, only the 'designer' was able to pick up the 'illustrator'?"
This question carries a clear implication, as if to say that Gu Yingshen's feelings for Lu Zhian were different from the very beginning.
Xiao Jin then added a reason that he considered crucial, even potentially decisive. He looked at Yin Qin with utmost seriousness: "Besides, the designer is quite a good cook." His tone seemed to have captured a man's heart. The saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is an eternal truth, and Lu Zhian happened to have mastered this core skill.
Yin Qin fell into deep thought. He stroked the warm coffee cup, and images flashed uncontrollably through his mind: Gu Yingshen's almost obsessive pickiness about food, yet seemingly having no objection to Lu Zhian's cooking; the unspoken understanding between the two, a single glance enough to convey their feelings...
Could it be that... those rumors are not unfounded?
Just as Yin Qin's inner balance began to tip, and his reason was gradually swayed by the Xiao brothers' earnest "analysis," Xiao Yuan put down the small spoon that was stirring his coffee. The crisp sound of metal colliding with the porcelain cup broke the brief silence.
He stood up, his movements still steady, but his eyes held an undeniable resolve:
"Let's go find them."
These words, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, immediately created ripples.
Xiao Jin practically jumped up from his seat and immediately repeated, his tone urgent: "Yes! Let's go find them!" He seemed unable to wait even a second longer, as if if they were a second later, Lu Zhian and that dangerous painter would really run away together.
Both of their gazes were simultaneously fixed intently on Yin Qin, who was still deep in thought.
Yin Qin felt the two intense gazes and looked up. He was indeed wavering, his mind unsettled by the talk of "suicide pact," "perfect match," and "the only one who could be salvaged."
However, his long-standing understanding and trust in Gu Yingshen still left him with a sliver of rationality. His lips moved, trying to grasp at this last straw, his voice carrying a lack of confidence he himself didn't realize:
“He wouldn’t…” He wanted to say that Gu Yingshen wouldn’t do such a thing, but when he saw Xiao Yuan and Xiao Jin’s eyes, which were filled with “you’re too naive” and “facts speak louder than words,” he swallowed the rest of his words. Really…wouldn’t he?
Xiao Yuan didn't give him a chance to hesitate any longer. Seeing that Yin Qin denied it verbally but his body was already hesitant, he reached out and grabbed Yin Qin's arm, pulling him up from his seat with an irresistible force.
"I'm leaving." Xiao Yuan's tone was brief and forceful.
Xiao Jin, who was standing next to him, immediately followed suit, grabbing Yin Qin's other arm from the other side as if afraid that he would change his mind, and echoed, "Yes, let's go, let's go!"
Yin Qin was practically "carried" up by the two brothers, one on each side, and led out of the coffee shop with a mixture of struggle and helplessness on his face, but his feet had already moved along with him.
“Hey, you guys…” He tried to say something, such as “This isn’t a good idea,” or “Maybe we should trust them,” but all his words seemed pale and powerless in the face of Xiao Yuan’s steady yet firm steps and Xiao Jin’s burning fighting spirit of “catching them in the act.”
Thus, the following scene unfolded on the street: three men with outstanding temperament and extremely eye-catching appearances, two of whom, with an air of "righteous indignation," were holding their middle companion, whose expression was slightly conflicted and whose steps were somewhat unsteady, hostage, and were chasing after the direction in which Lu Zhian and Gu Yingshen had disappeared at an almost frantic pace.
This scene drew the attention of passersby, who wondered what major event had occurred.
The two main characters being "hunted" remain completely unaware of this.
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