Chapter 14 The Infinite Boss Invites You to "Eat Melon" 14. Intense...
Lin Xiaoman stared speechlessly at her phone screen. After a moment, she seemed to remember something and asked, "Of all the teams, your team is the best at intelligence gathering and surveillance. So, do you know when Lu Yu moved that work badge from his phone case to his new waterproof bag?"
Jiang Yan replied quickly: 【I know. This message is priced at 10,000 Blue Star coins. Note, it's Blue Star, not Mercury Star. Since you're my friend, I'll give you a 50% discount, 5,000.】
Lin Xiaoman's typing suddenly became more forceful, the taps making a loud crackling sound on the screen: [Jiang Yan! You money-grubbing information broker! Forget about Jinshui Star, I have some family wealth. How many players on Blue Star have managed to get a good job? Even if they have an ID card, their status isn't good, they don't have any education. I've worked hard all this time, and I only earn 4,500 a month, before tax. You're asking for a whopping 5,000! You're not my friend, you're a vengeful demon!]
One minute later.
You have successfully transferred 5,000 yuan to the other party.
Jiang Yan: [Thank you, boss. When Lu Yu exited the turnstile, his backpack tilted slightly, and that's when he bent down to change it. The whole process took less than five seconds. It happened to be a blind spot for the subway station's security cameras. If you were mainly using cameras from Blue Star or surveillance from a slightly farther distance, you might have missed that shot.]
Lin Xiaoman: [...Five seconds? What kind of hand speed is that?]
Jiang Yan did not reply.
Mai Dadan craned his neck to peek at the screen and was also shocked by the speed of his five-second hand movements. Is this the power of being single for twenty-seven years? It's truly amazing.
At the same time, Lu Yu, with his astonishingly fast hands, was sitting at a table by the window in the convenience store, stirring his hot and sour noodles, watching Pei Yanzhi eating instant noodles with his head down through the reflection in the glass.
Half an hour ago, Lu Yu walked into the convenience store, partly because he really wanted to borrow a phone to call the police, and partly because he was really hungry and wanted to get some late-night snacks. But when he looked up, he saw Pei Yanzhi buying things.
Without exaggeration, Lu Yu felt as if someone had punched a hole in his heart. The hole wasn't big, and it didn't hurt, but the wind of the rainy night poured in, bringing a chill.
He knew that Pei Yanzhi was a player, and he also knew that their rapid progress was likely hidden, but knowing was one thing, and actually seeing Pei Yanzhi appear with a purpose was another.
Lu Yu didn't want Pei Yanzhi to be like the other players he met today, here for his work badge, but Pei Yanzhi's presence here at this moment made him unable to help but be suspicious.
This made him very upset.
She was distressed by the possibility that Pei Yanzhi might be using her, and also by her own uncontrollable suspicions.
Lu Yu didn't show his emotions, and Pei Yanzhi didn't seem to notice either. The young man heard the wind chimes at the convenience store entrance, subconsciously looked up, paused for a moment, then smiled, his lips curving into a slight smile: "I was just about to text you to ask if you got home yet, and then we bumped into each other. Would you call that telepathy?"
"Yes," Lu Yu said. "Have you finished moving?"
"That's about it. We can clean up the rest later," Pei Yanzhi said, picking out a cup of instant noodles from the instant noodle section. Then he turned to look at Lu Yu and asked, "Are you hungry? Want some late-night snacks?"
Lu Yu did not refuse.
The convenience store near Seven Days Park is the largest, with a wide variety of food. The two of them each took some, which wasn't a small amount, but it wasn't much for two men with normal appetites.
Pei Yanzhi went to get instant noodles and hot and sour noodles, while Lu Yu went to get the store's famous freshly squeezed watermelon juice. The two sat by the window and ate their midnight snack at the convenience store.
Lu Yu took off the waterproof bag and placed it on the table as if he were completely unsuspecting.
What are you looking at me for?
Pei Yanzhi noticed Lu Yu's lingering gaze, took a sip of watermelon juice, and then his eyes swept across the floor-to-ceiling window before settling on Lu Yu's face.
Lu Yu paused for a moment, then answered honestly, "...I don't know, I'm just looking around."
Pei Yanzhi laughed and leaned closer: "At this time, even the most taciturn person would say 'I want to see you,' who would say 'I don't know, just looking around'?"
"You used to call me 'baby' when you were typing, but now you can't do anything? Boyfriend?"
Lu Yu really didn't know what to say this time. How could typing be the same as speaking?
He didn't know how Pei Yanzhi could so naturally call him "boyfriend." Those three words pierced his ears so directly, making his ears feel like they were on fire, burning hot.
Pei Yanzhi seemed to notice his unease, and moved closer, her breath becoming lighter and slower, as if carrying the dampness of the rain outside the window: "What's wrong, boyfriend?"
The chair tilted slightly because of his movement. Lu Yu glanced at him and, just like last time, stretched out his arm to hold onto the back of the chair: "Sit properly."
"Still lecturing me?" Pei Yanzhi raised an eyebrow at him, smiling as he leaned against his muscular arm. His jade-like face was bathed in light, and his amber eyes blinked, sparkling and captivating.
As if bewitched, Lu Yu subconsciously tried to tighten his arms and pulled the person into his embrace without regard for anything else.
But as his fingers twitched slightly, about to lift, he suddenly seemed to remember something, snapped back to reality, and stopped moving.
He didn't raise his arm to embrace him, but he couldn't bear to pull away either. He could only lean on Pei Yanzhi's chair back like this, letting him lean lazily against it, feeling the weight and body temperature that didn't belong to him, pressing down on him sometimes lightly and sometimes heavily, exuding an undeniable presence.
Pei Yanzhi clung to him like a skin starving patient, and after a teasing laugh, he got down to business: "After reporting the phone incident to the police, what are you planning to do?"
He had already lent Lu Yu his phone and made a call to the police.
“We have a spare phone at home. We’ll get a new SIM card tomorrow and use it for now,” Lu Yu said. “We’ll buy a new one when we have time. The old one is probably hard to find.”
Pei Yanzhi nodded and picked up a skewer of oden: "Be careful when you go out at night. The security situation in Baixiang City hasn't been very good lately."
Lu Yu replied, "You too."
Pei Yanzhi smiled: "Yes, I will. How was the first day of the music festival? How was it?"
They had already discussed the topic during their casual chat during the day, but Pei Yanzhi asked about it again.
Lu Yu couldn't tell if this was a test or something else, so he simply replied, "It's tiring, sunny, noisy, and there's no compensation. It's easier to slack off in the office."
"I told you to apply sunscreen to avoid sunburn, did you apply it?" Pei Yanzhi asked.
“I applied it,” Lu Yu said, “I got it from a colleague.”
Pei Yanzhi raised his eyes, reached out and picked up the shopping bag next to him, pushing it towards him: "These are unused items from the move, I don't need them, so you can have them."
Lu Yu glanced over and saw that the room was full of sunscreen, cooling patches, small fans, portable mosquito repellents, and Huoxiang Zhengqi Water (a traditional Chinese medicine for heatstroke). He didn't take any of them, but said righteously, "If you have them unused, I can help you sell them on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app)."
“Don’t pretend,” Pei Yanzhi raised an eyebrow. “I bought this especially for you. If you don’t want it, I’ll bite you to death.”
After Pei Yanzhi said that, Lu Yu really did not want it anymore, but he couldn't bear to part with it. Pei Yanzhi said that he didn't need it and it was perfect to give it to him. His attitude was very casual, but these things were obviously prepared with care and attention, and were not just idle items.
"Okay, I'll take it, thank you... baby."
He took the heavy shopping bag, paused for two seconds, and then uttered the form of address.
Pei Yanzhi, who had been looking at him, trembled upon hearing this and instinctively looked away.
Lu Yu's eyes were too deep and intense.
Often, being stared intently into those dark, ink-like eyes is like encountering a flickering fire in the dead of night, giving one the unsettling feeling of being burned.
It was just a small matter.
Pei Yanzhi lowered his eyes.
Lu Yu packed up his things and then asked Pei Yanzhi about his new job, new place, and the situation with his mental pollution syndrome. The two chatted while eating a late-night snack until past midnight before cleaning up the table and getting up to leave.
This time, Pei Yanzhi offered to drive Lu Yu home, citing the need to keep the new house a secret and wait until the housewarming party. Lu Yu couldn't refuse Pei Yanzhi, so he had no choice but to let him drive him.
The two left the convenience store. Lu Yu opened his umbrella, and Pei Yanzhi naturally bent down slightly and slipped inside.
A cool and desolate aura suddenly approached, causing Lu Yu to pause in thought and unconsciously lower his breath.
Only when Pei Yanzhi's face, so close to his own, turned to him and said, "Let's go," did he come back to life as if a stagnant pool had finally been filled with life, raising his left hand to put his arm around Pei Yanzhi's shoulder.
Pei Yanzhi's shoulders were somewhat thin.
Even through two layers of clothing and a layer of skin, Lu Yu could still clearly feel the shape of that slightly protruding bone, beautiful and thin, like bamboo joints or a piece of porcelain.
Ultimately, it was still bone, standing upright and clear, not exactly rugged, yet it made Lu Yu involuntarily gather his palms, enveloping and clenching them, using his sense of touch to survey and occupy it.
“Your hands are so hot,” Pei Yanzhi suddenly said.
Lu Yu paused, instinctively wanting to pull his hand away, but Pei Yanzhi stopped him: "Get closer, you're tilting the umbrella too far towards me, you'll get wet yourself."
"……good."
Lu Yu responded softly, belatedly realizing the damp coolness seeping into his right shoulder.
The umbrella is not large enough to accommodate two men, but if one man is almost completely pressed against the other's chest, then the situation is different.
Lu Yu heard his own heartbeat, which gradually merged with Pei Yanzhi's in this small space.
Lu Yu thought of a type of novel he had read: ABO.
If he and Pei Yanzhi both possessed the pheromones described in novels, then at this very moment, they would be completely permeated with each other's scent. The intense aroma would completely soak into each other, utterly invading, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other.
This wildly imaginative idea suddenly gave Lu Yu a strange yet exciting sense of satisfaction.
He lowered his head slightly and smelled Pei Yanzhi's hair fragrance, which mingled with the rain and was a cool yet soft orchid scent.
Lin Xiaoman, crouching in the shadows by the roadside: "..."
"As expected of a dungeon boss, he's keeping me wrapped up and even secretly smelling my hair. He's really something else..." Mai Dadan whispered, "Dadan the cricket."
Lin Xiaoman quickly covered Mai Dadan's mouth.
She knew that Pei Yanzhi's spatial power was very strong, and that he could monitor and control a considerable spatial range. Although she kept a sufficient distance, she was still worried that she would be spied on.
Under the umbrella, Pei Yanzhi's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he smiled gently.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yu asked.
"It's nothing, I think I heard some small animal sounds," Pei Yanzhi said.
"Yeah?"
Lu Yu didn't hear anything, but it reminded him of something. "Do you like cats?" he asked tentatively. "There's a black and white cat in my neighborhood. I asked around, and it's a stray, not someone's pet. I've fed it a few times. It's a little temperamental, but it doesn't bite or scratch. It just doesn't seem to want to come home with me. Would you like to try getting to know it?"
This sounds like an introduction to a blind date.
Pei Yanzhi smiled, raised his eyes and said, "A black and white cat? Forget it, I don't like cats and I don't know how to take care of them, so I won't get involved."
Lu Yu's gaze fell on Pei Yanzhi's face, and he instinctively felt that this was not the truth, but his Adam's apple bobbed and he didn't say anything more.
The journey home was neither too far nor too near. As the two talked, they arrived at the foot of Building 13 of the Morning Dusk Apartments.
Lu Yu asked Pei Yanzhi for his address and called him a car. Pei Yanzhi didn't refuse, but said, "Don't worry, boyfriend, no one will dare to steal me away. It's late, go to sleep quickly, don't stay up late."
Lu Yu paused, thinking about the late nights he had stayed up recently, and asked, "Do you have dark circles under your eyes?"
Pei Yanzhi stroked Lu Yu's cheek: "Let me see."
Lu Yu lowered his head slightly in response to his movement. Pei Yanzhi looked at him carefully and said, "I've got it. It'll ruin your looks."
Lu Yu's heart sank. Just as he was about to make a declaration to go to bed early and vow to regain his youthful beauty, he smelled Pei Yanzhi's sudden approach.
It came with the rain, soft and tender.
The next second, a light kiss landed on his lips.
Lu Yu was taken aback, looked up, and his eyes suddenly turned deep.
Pei Yanzhi touched him and immediately pulled away. Before Lu Yu could react, he had already opened his umbrella and escaped from Lu Yu's grasp.
Lu Yu's left hand suddenly went empty, and he grabbed a patch of rain.
“Goodnight kiss,” Pei Yanzhi chuckled. “I was just kidding you. I didn’t have any dark circles under my eyes. All I had was a handsome face that made people’s hearts flutter and lose control.”
He deliberately used exaggerated words to tease him.
Lu Yu took a half step forward, trying to pull him back.
Pei Yanzhi took a half step back a moment later and said, "Save the kiss for next time, a deeper one, okay? It's too late now, go upstairs, I'm leaving too. Don't even mention seeing me off, if we keep seeing you off, we'll be seeing you off until tomorrow morning, hurry back."
Lu Yu's intended words were anticipated by Pei Yanzhi, so he could only swallow them back.
"Be careful," Lu Yu said.
Pei Yanzhi smiled and waved his hand.
Lu Yu watched Pei Yanzhi's figure disappear into the distance.
The transparent umbrella was covered with rain streaks. Lu Yu walked into the entrance hall of the apartment building, closed the umbrella and shook it vigorously, and countless water droplets flowed down, like the unspeakable tears of lovers lingering together.
“He has no intention of changing his work badge,” Lu Yu told the gossip-eating system.
The Gossip System: [Yes, host.]
Lu Yu looked down at the waterproof bag he had placed on the table earlier and then hung around his neck on the way back: "Do you think he doesn't think this is a fragment of divinity and doesn't need to be tested, or is he really not interested in it and just came to see me?"
The Gossip System: [Host, this system also wants to have a piece of this gossip, but this system is limited by...]
Lu Yu didn't want to listen to the rest of the nonsense.
A new guess arose in his mind.
Pei Yanzhi is indeed an S-class player, and he has most likely accepted the story missions surrounding him. But is it possible that what Pei Yanzhi truly wants has nothing to do with the missions, and is different from what those S-class players want?
A note from the author:
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