Chapter 31: Disturbed Mind

Xiao Yang snapped that parting remark in frustration and stalked back to his seat.

From that moment on, he couldn’t help but look back at Yu Xi from time to time. Seeing the boy working so diligently, yet blooming into a bright, heartless smile the moment his eyes met that guy surnamed Gu, made Xiao Yang’s blood boil.

He was truly a hopeless case. If he ever bothered meddling in Yu Xi’s business again, he’d call himself a pig!

“Once all the guests disperse, we can finally leave.”

As the banquet drew to a close, a waiter who had found a free moment whispered to Yu Xi.

“Look at that one, he’s starting again.”

Yu Xi followed the direction the waiter pointed. The other part-time waiter they had talked about earlier was trying to intercept Gu Chuanzhou with a delicate, practiced smile. But before he could even open his mouth, he was ruthlessly ignored.

Gu Chuanzhou walked straight up to Yu Xi. The moment their eyes met, the frost on his face melted away entirely, making him look like a completely different person.

“Xi Xi, when do you finish? I’ll wait for you.”

Yu Xi shook his head in refusal. “I have to stay until the very end before I can leave.”

“I can just drive him back.” Xiao Yang materialized out of nowhere, still sporting a sour expression. He cast a sideways glance at Gu Chuanzhou and said, “He and I both need to go back to campus. It’s on the way.”

Yu Xi thought about how far their university was from Gu Chuanzhou’s residence and was just about to agree. Suddenly, he noticed Gu Chuanzhou sway slightly. He quickly reached out to support him. “Brother Chuanzhou, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I just drank a bit too much and feel a little unwell.” Gu Chuanzhou forced a faint, strained smile. A rare trace of weakness showed between his brows, and his voice softened considerably. “I originally wanted to chat with you on the way back. Since you don’t want to, forget it.”

Without a second thought, Yu Xi immediately said, “I’ll take your car. But don’t drive me; I’ll go back to Huze Junting with you and stay at Aunt Pei’s place.” He made the decision decisively, then turned around to speak to Xiao Yang in a soft, gentle voice. “I won’t be returning to the dorms tonight. I’ll ask our counselor for leave. Thank you so much for today, Xiao Yang. You helped me a lot… I’ll bring you something delicious tomorrow.”

Xiao Yang was exasperated. “Am I desperate for your bite of food?” After saying that, meeting Yu Xi’s blinking, dark eyes, he added with extreme awkwardness, “Fine. Once you reach the place, remember to report back to me. You must call, do you hear me?”

Yu Xi nodded repeatedly.

Giving Gu Chuanzhou one final, covertly warning glance, Xiao Yang let out a cold snort and left first.

Another twenty minutes passed before Yu Xi received permission from the supervisor to officially end his shift. He changed out of his uniform, pocketed his wages, and ran into his colleague from earlier at the locker room door. He smiled and said goodbye. “I’m leaving now. Thank you for helping me.”

The other party leaned in closer to gossip. “Are you really close with those two? You gave me quite a scare just now; I didn’t expect you to know them!”

“We’re all friends,” Yu Xi said.

“Friends? But the way President Gu looked at you was so intense and lingering. I thought your relationship was out of the ordinary, haha.”

Yu Xi didn’t take this half-joking comment to heart.

He and Gu Chuanzhou sat in the back seat of the car. The raised partition created a private space, and the dim interior lighting at night heightened his other senses—such as the body heat of the person beside him.

Yu Xi let Gu Chuanzhou lean against him, looking quite uncomfortable. Worried, he reached out to touch the older man’s forehead. Finding the temperature normal, he let out a sigh of relief. Although he could tell Gu Chuanzhou wasn’t completely drunk, he knew that drinking too much caused dizziness and uncomfortable heat. He treated Gu Chuanzhou with extra care, his voice unconsciously growing much gentler.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

Because they were sitting close, turning his head to speak meant being right beside the other’s ear. The youth’s voice was tiny, carrying a sweet, fragrant breath that sent a faint itch straight to the heart.

A dark light surged in Gu Chuanzhou’s eyes. His voice was low and rough. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“Drink some water.” Yu Xi took care of Gu Chuanzhou using the same methods Gu Chuanzhou used to take care of him in the past, bringing the open mineral water bottle close to feed him.

Gu Chuanzhou drank from Yu Xi’s hand, his dark eyes fixed unblinkingly on the boy.

“Is Xi Xi on very good terms with that roommate?”

Yu Xi twisted the bottle cap back on. Without thinking much of it, he smiled and said, “Pretty good. He’s a very nice person, he’s just sharp-tongued.”

“Is that so…” Gu Chuanzhou leaned against Yu Xi once more, naturally pulling the hand that had just put away the water bottle into his own. “Earlier, I thought Xi Xi would leave me behind and choose to go back with him.”

Yu Xi felt his fingers being gripped a bit tightly, but he endured the slight pain without speaking. “You’re unwell; of course I wouldn’t do that.”

“Mhm, I know.” A flash of amusement passed through Gu Chuanzhou’s eyes. “Our Xi Xi has always been very soft-hearted.”

“…” Yu Xi wanted to say something, but facing Gu Chuanzhou’s intense, deep, and pitch-black gaze, he lost his voice. His heart tightened along with it.

Inexplicably, two sentences flashed through his mind one after another.

— “You’re the only one dumb enough not to see what your ‘good friend’ is really thinking.” — “But the way President Gu looked at you was so intense and lingering. I thought your relationship was out of the ordinary.”

“What is Xi Xi thinking about?”

Yu Xi snapped out of it, suddenly feeling guilty. Pretending to rub his eyes, he pulled his hand back from Gu Chuanzhou’s grasp. “Nothing, I’m just a bit sleepy.”

A hand reached over and gently covered his eyes.

“If you’re sleepy, go to sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

Hearing Gu Chuanzhou’s words, Yu Xi gave an answering hum.

The environment was very quiet, and the car drove smoothly. Yet, even with Gu Chuanzhou beside him, Yu Xi didn’t feel sleepy at all. His mind was in a complete mess.

Time skipped forward to just before the National Day holiday.

Pei Lexin had already called Yu Xi in advance, saying that on the day the holiday started, Pei Wang would take the driver’s car to pick him up and help carry his luggage.

“Do you have any plans to travel? I don’t have much time, but Wang still has a five-day break. You two can go together, and I’ll cover the expenses.”

Yu Xi smiled and said, “We’ll see when the time comes, Aunt Pei.”

In fact, his friends had already been discussing it passionately in their group chat. Sheng Yunjuan wanted to go to the beach, while Zhang Xingkuo wanted to go camping. The two argued endlessly, and the others had their own ideas, so the final decision fell back on Yu Xi.

But Yu Xi was too busy to decide right away. He wanted to wait until he returned to the Pei family home to ask for Pei Wang’s opinion and see if he wanted to join.

During the National Day long holidays of previous years, Yu Xi’s days had been packed with part-time jobs and exam papers. He hadn’t originally felt the excitement or profound relief typical students felt, but caught up in his friends’ enthusiasm, he couldn’t help but look forward to it.

However, things took an unexpected turn the day before National Day.

“Kicked out?”

On his way back to the dorms, Yu Xi received a phone call from Sheng Yunshu. Within a few sentences, his delicate brows furrowed. He motioned for his roommates, who were casting concerned glances, to go ahead, and sat down on a long bench to ask for details.

“如何能这样做出这种事？”

“To be precise, Ah Shen left the Meng family on his own first.” Sheng Yunshu’s voice on the other end was very calm. “He didn’t tell me. I happened to hear it from someone else today. The Meng family intended to force Ah Shen into an arranged marriage. He repeatedly disobeyed orders to return home. Even when threatened with being kicked out of the family roster, he didn’t budge, so the Meng family threw all his things outside.”

Yu Xi bit his lip, his fingers tightening unconsciously. “They are being too much of a bully…”

Sheng Yunshu sighed softly. “The arranged marriage matter happened half a month ago. A few days ago, I vaguely felt his state of mind wasn’t right and tried to probe, but he didn’t say a single word.”

Yu Xi understood. Meng Shen had always been like this, burying his worries deeply and dealing with everything on his own.

Sheng Yunshu said, “Xiao Xi, he listens to you the most. If you go ask him, he will definitely be willing to tell you everything.”

The next day after that phone call—which was also the day the National Day holiday officially began—Yu Xi went straight to the neighboring university and found Meng Shen’s dormitory.

Before this, he had deliberately asked Meng Shen on WeChat when he would be heading back today and if they should go together.

In the past, whenever they could go together, Meng Shen would always ride in the same vehicle. But this time, Meng Shen had refused him, saying he had other matters after class and couldn’t return to Huze Junting anytime soon.

So, Yu Xi simply came to his door to find him.

He had been to this university three times in total, and during one of those visits, he had seen Meng Shen’s dorm, so he didn’t waste any time navigating. Since the holiday was starting, the dorm matron wasn’t strictly controlling entry, allowing Yu Xi to arrive smoothly in front of Meng Shen’s dorm door.

Hearing the knock, the person inside opened the door. Seeing Yu Xi, he froze. “Who… who are you looking for?”

“Hello, I’m looking for Meng Shen.” Belatedly realizing it was a bit awkward to show up empty-handed like this, Yu Xi gripped the straps of his backpack, standing at the door with a bit of unease. “Is he in?”

“Ah! It’s you!” Another head popped out from inside the room, greeting Yu Xi with a grin. “Long time no see.”

“You know him?” The person who opened the door widened his eyes.

“Yeah! He came by last time when you weren’t here, and I forgot to tell you.”

“Damn, how could you forget that? You did it on purpose, didn’t you!”

“So what? Usually when something good happens, you don’t call me your father either.”

Watching the two unexpectedly bicker with each other, Yu Xi scratched his ear awkwardly. “Um, about Meng Shen…”

“Oh, he’s in the bathroom. He’ll be out in a—”

Mid-sentence, Meng Shen walked out. Seeing Yu Xi, he froze as if unable to believe his eyes. “Xiao Xi?”

Yu Xi waved at him. “Come out, I have something to ask you.”

The two walked together to a quiet, secluded corner of the emergency stairwell. Yu Xi looked at Meng Shen, who kept his gaze lowered. Stepping a bit closer, he spoke cautiously, “Ah Shen, did you forget to tell me something?”

A single, incredibly gentle and simple probe caused the reticent boy to pour everything out.

What Meng Shen confessed was almost identical to what Yu Xi had heard from Sheng Yunshu.

But hearing it for the second time, Yu Xi was still filled with righteous indignation. “They are too wicked. How can they treat you like this?”

“In the eyes of the Meng family, this is the only use for a failure like me.” There was no emotional fluctuation on Meng Shen’s face. He used an extremely calm tone, as if stating an objective fact.

A dull ache flared in Yu Xi’s heart, a faint ring of red rimming his eyes. He spoke with a resonant, forceful tone, “You are absolutely not. You are very, very good. It is they who are wicked and blind.”

“And I don’t allow you to say that about yourself either.”

“Do you hear me, Ah Shen?”

Meng Shen lowered his head. “I hear you… I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Yu Xi stood on his tiptoes and reached out, tilting Meng Shen’s face up to meet his gaze firmly. “It’s entirely their fault. Your resistance is right. They have no right to control your life.”

Yu Xi’s face was reflected in Meng Shen’s eyes, and as if catching a beam of light, his gaze regained a bit of spirit.

Now that the situation was clear, Yu Xi asked Meng Shen what his plans were.

Meng Shen had already made a decision. “I want to rent an apartment near the school.”

Yu Xi nodded heavily. “Good. If the Meng family doesn’t want you, then forget them. There’s nothing keeping us there anyway.”

He grabbed Meng Shen’s hand and walked back toward the dormitory. “Let’s pack your things together and find an apartment together. Don’t worry, I will always stay by your side.”

Their hands were clasped together, one in front and one behind. Yu Xi led the way, and Meng Shen followed.

Exactly the same as it had been more than ten years ago.