Chapter 72: Another Way

Getting off the merry-go-round, even someone as slow as Ding Wei could tell Shen Zheming was acting strange today.

Hadn’t he just been helping him with a problem? Why was he suddenly so cold?

Yu Xi, who had been watching this, couldn’t take it anymore. He used the excuse of buying snacks at the convenience store to drag the bewildered Ding Wei away.

“Are you saying Brother Lu and Brother Shen have something going on?” Ding Wei was loud, and the shock of what Yu Xi said made him forget to lower his voice.

Everyone in the convenience store turned to look at them.

Yu Xi wished he could embed Ding Wei into the wall. “Can you keep it down!”

Ding Wei: “Oh, oh.”

The two of them crouched behind the store’s shelves. Through the gaps between the products, they could see Lu Shi and Shen Zheming outside through the glass.

Ding Wei insisted, “Impossible! Isn’t Brother Shen involved with that Fang Kexin?”

Seeing Yu Xi facepalming in exasperation, he continued, “Even if it’s not Fang Kexin, it can’t be Brother Lu. The atmosphere when they first met was so tense. When did they get together? I never noticed.”

Yu Xi snorted. “That’s what I mean about you managing to stay single all this time.”

Ding Wei stood there, questioning his existence.

Just then, Shen Zheming sat down on a bench by the roadside. Lu Shi stood in front of him, cupped his face, and lowered his head.

“What the?!”

The two hiding behind the shelves exclaimed in unison.

In broad daylight, with people walking around.

Ding Wei pointed a finger, eyes wide. “Are they kissing?”

Yu Xi hadn’t expected it either.

He had always thought Lu Shi was the kind of person who seemed carefree and easygoing, but was actually quite shy about romantic matters. He wouldn’t do something like that with Shen Zheming in public.

“Are you okay? Does it still sting?” Lu Shi bent down to carefully inspect Shen Zheming’s eyes.

A gust of wind had just blown over, carrying bubbles from the park’s bubble machine.

Shen Zheming’s eyes had been hit. Lu Shi pulled him onto the bench, took out a tissue from his pocket, and wiped his eyes.

Shen Zheming squinted his irritated eyes. Lu Shi thought for a moment, then crumpled the tissue in his hand and leaned down to gently blow on them.

His warm breath swept over Shen Zheming’s eyelids like a feather.

Shen Zheming’s fingers curled.

That night at the hotel, the person in his arms had leaned against him just as defenselessly, their long breaths landing on his Adam’s apple as they slept.

Shen Zheming grabbed Lu Shi’s wrist. “You care about me?”

“Huh?”

Lu Shi blinked in confusion, then realized his gesture might have been too intimate.

He explained, “If Yu Xi or Ding Wei asked me to wipe their eyes, I’d help too.”

Shen Zheming let out a light laugh. “But you took the initiative to help me.”

Lu Shi was momentarily stunned.

He had just acted on instinct. After all, getting soap in your eyes was uncomfortable.

The cheerful music from the nearby carousel tickled the eardrums note by note.

If anyone else had said that, Lu Shi would have thought they were being presumptuous. But coming from Shen Zheming, he couldn’t bring himself to feel annoyed.

Lu Shi cleared his throat. “Whatever you say.”

When they met up with Ding Wei and Yu Xi again, Lu Shi felt there was something weird about their expressions, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

The amusement park was huge. Apart from some too-childish attractions in the kids’ area, they went on pretty much everything. By the time it got dark and the park lights came on, everyone’s legs were tired.

After reuniting with Fang Kexin and the others, they left the park and found a restaurant to sit down.

Fang Kexin happily held up her camera, repeatedly admiring the photos she’d taken with Shen Luo.

“Excuse me, coming through with hot dishes. Careful, they’re hot.”

A waiter pushed a cart and carefully placed the plates on the table.

Everyone was already hungry. Even Fang Kexin put down her beloved camera and picked up her chopsticks ready to eat.

“Stir-fried chives with eggs, lamb and radish soup…” Shen Luo paused with her chopsticks, amused. “Such nourishing food. Who ordered this?”

These were great for kidney health in autumn and winter.

Lu Shi raised his hand, admitting it frankly. “Me.”

But he didn’t order them for himself.

He ordered them for Shen Zheming.

As an S-class Alpha, top in every way, it would be too tragic if he wasn’t good in that area.

Lu Shi’s order had nothing to do with personal feelings. It was pure care for Shen Zheming’s well-being, out of humanitarian concern.

Shen Zheming watched as Lu Shi picked up the ladle and filled a bowl with steaming lamb soup, with two soft chunks of carrot floating.

“…”

Lu Shi said, “Don’t misunderstand. I just think it’s good to eat this in winter.”

Then he filled a bowl for himself, so others wouldn’t see his true intention.

“Ah… yeah, lamb soup in winter is nice,” Shen Luo chimed in.

Ding Wei: “I’ll have a bowl too.”

Everyone else started helping themselves to the soup, and the awkward atmosphere at the table dissipated.

Across the armrest of his chair, Shen Zheming lowered his voice, using the clinking of bowls and spoons as cover to ask the person next to him.

“You think I need that?”

Lu Shi didn’t look at him. His jacket was hanging on the back of the chair. Without the heavy coat, his shoulders and back looked thin, slightly hunched as he sat.

Lu Shi mumbled, “More is always good, Brother Shen.”

Shen Zheming raised an eyebrow, stirring his soup with a spoon. “I hope you can still say that later.”

They chatted while eating, taking a long time.

It was peak dining hour, and the restaurant was getting more crowded.

Lu Shi touched his neck.

They had been out too long. The suppressant he’d sprayed in the morning was wearing off, and the patch on his nape was starting to curl at the edges.

He could smell all sorts of food in the air, along with a complex mix of pheromones.

Most people had just come from the amusement park, still hyped from roller coasters and drop towers. Their emotions were running high, and their pheromones were running wild.

To others, it was just a whiff of pheromones. But for Lu Shi, staying in that environment too long made his gland uncomfortable.

He picked up his jacket from the chair and said to the others, “It’s a bit stuffy. I’m going out for some air.”

He wove through the tables, avoiding the waitstaff.

Once outside, the cool temperature made him feel better, but the gland was still a little itchy and hot, as if protesting.

The bell on the restaurant door jingled again.

A tall figure came out and stood beside him.

The amusement park was in the suburbs. It wasn’t as noisy as the city, and the evening breeze carried a hint of camellia scent.

When Shen Zheming didn’t release his pheromones, it was fine. But when he did, Lu Shi touched his neck and said, “Brother Shen, can you come a little closer?”

Shen Zheming stepped closer, knowing that Lu Shi’s gland was uncomfortable.

“Is the concentration enough?” Shen Zheming asked. “If not, there’s another way.”

Lu Shi thought Shen Zheming was referring to a temporary mark.

After spending the day at the amusement park, he felt less awkward around Shen Zheming. It was like they were back to how they used to be, when he could handle things easily.

Lu Shi looked down at the cracks in the pavement tiles and said in a muffled voice, “No need, Brother Shen. Last time you bit me, my neck hurt for three days. And the mark from last time hasn’t faded yet.”

Shen Zheming looked at him quietly for a few seconds. “I wasn’t talking about a mark.”

Lu Shi’s head shot up, and his eyes met Shen Zheming’s.

Besides a temporary mark, the quickest way to exchange high-concentration pheromones was through kissing. The pheromone concentration in saliva was extremely high.

Last time at the hotel, Shen Zheming had kissed him to calm him down quickly.

Kissing…

In that half a minute, Lu Shi overturned his previous thought.

It seemed they weren’t back to how they were.

He could no longer treat Shen Zheming with the same carefree attitude as before.

“Didn’t you say I’m always willing to help?”

Shen Zheming’s voice was very low, his tone slightly teasing.

It brushed against Lu Shi’s ear and seeped into his heart.

“Want it?”

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