After Transmigrating as the Northeast CEO's Pampered Little Husband - Chapter 68

After the weekend ended, Dai Gucan drove Gu Jiaoyang back to school. The two of them indulged in a brief, affectionate moment before he got out of the car. Since he could now return to the Dai family home every day, Gu Jiaoyang only exchanged a few quick words before bidding Dai Gucan goodbye and heading back to the dorm.

“You’re back?” Qiu Yu happened to be returning from outside too. Gu Jiaoyang used his key to open the door and stepped aside to let Qiu Yu and his many bags pass. Wearing a short skirt, Qiu Yu’s long, straight legs were clad in nude coloured ‘light leg effect’ hosiery, which shimmered slightly in the light, a bit like a beauty queen’s foundation-powdered face.

“Mhm! I’m exhausted! Are you going home tonight too?” Qiu Yu placed his paper bags by the door they contained some newly bought clothes, but mostly just newly arrived deliveries.

“Yes. It’s quite close to home, and my boyfriend is rather clingy,” Gu Jiaoyang said, winking at Qiu Yu.

“I know, I know. Just wait until this girl finds her better half; I definitely won’t forget this payback for rubbing your relationship in my face today!” Qiu Yu sat down on the living room sofa, pulling out an item and making a face at Gu Jiaoyang while ripping open the packaging.

During their first few weeks of school, they frequently attended class together, and Gu Jiaoyang was often on the phone, having long chats with his boyfriend. Who would have thought that the seemingly cold and aloof executive Qiu Yu had seen that day was actually such a clingy sweetheart, even calling his little housemate just to discuss eating a custard bun for lunch?

“Have you bought new dresses again?” Gu Jiaoyang took the quilt that had been airing for the weekend out of his bedroom. He saw five dresses Qiu Yu had unwrapped and spread on the sofa. They were all quite elaborate, and each came with a large box containing coordinating hats and accessories.

“Yes, they’re Lolita dresses. They’re really popular this year. Oh, right, can you keep these two for me? I need to clean out my wardrobe and then properly display them.” Qiu Yu’s hobby had become particularly open once he realised his soft and sweet housemate didn’t mind. Because he was constantly buying dresses he would never wear only hang up because they looked beautiful Qiu Yu’s own wardrobe couldn’t cope. He occasionally had to temporarily store one or two items in Gu Jiaoyang’s wardrobe.

So, in the short few weeks since school started, Gu Jiaoyang had been ‘affected’ by Qiu Yu’s hoarding quite a lot.

“Fine, but remember to lock my wardrobe. I don’t want to wake up in the morning, see a dress, and think I’ve been reborn as a little princess again.” After airing the quilt, Gu Jiaoyang went to the kitchen to grab an apple. He took a bite, holding it in his mouth, and crouched down to tidy up his newly bought art supplies.

Ever since he enrolled in the oil painting department, Dai Gucan had become obsessed with buying him paints. Gu Jiaoyang didn’t know where he had heard the rumour that every art student had a nightmare involving white paint.

Consequently, Dai Gucan had bought a whole box of white paint, along with foreign imported brushes of an unknown brand, supposedly “purely hand-made” over hundreds of years.

“They look pretty ugly, though. Not as nice as the ones I bought online with free shipping,” said Gu Jiaoyang, who had only recently started learning the basics of painting and hadn’t yet researched art tools. He preferred his brightly coloured, sticker-covered brushes over the expensive, unadorned ones.

“Oh? New paint? White! Wow, can I have a bottle? I’ll buy you dinner.” Qiu Yu was in the middle of his unpacking frenzy. His eye caught the white paint Gu Jiaoyang was holding, and his eyes lit up. He quickly rushed over and grabbed a bottle.

“Sure. Is white paint really that hard to come by?”

Perhaps it was a habit picked up from his classmates, but Gu Jiaoyang had also started referring to ‘paint’ as ‘fuel’.

“Oh, come on, have you forgotten the trauma of high school intensive training when the teacher furiously dipped into your white paint? Turning your perfectly pure white ‘fuel’ into five different colours!!! Argh!!!!” Qiu Yu gripped his hair, letting out a rare shout in his natural male voice, as if recalling a terrible scene.

“I’m a… spiritual student,” Gu Jiaoyang said, handing another bottle of white paint to Qiu Yu.

“Oh, right, right, right. So what? It makes no difference. You’ll experience it eventually! Head may roll, blood may spill, but no demonstration painting is touching my paint set!”

While Qiu Yu was still reminiscing about his training days, Gu Jiaoyang’s phone in his pocket started ringing.

“You carry on, I’m going,” Gu Jiaoyang nodded to Qiu Yu and went back into his bedroom to check his phone.

“Qiu Xue? Why is he calling now?”

“Hello?”

Gu Jiaoyang thought Qiu Xue might be in trouble, especially since he had a connection with that ‘father ghost’ living in the little grove. He was naturally a bit worried.

After all, this clumsy kid was his housemate’s younger brother, so he felt he should look out for him.

“Yangyang! It’s me!”

“Go on.”

Gu Jiaoyang frowned. Qiu Xue’s tone was overly enthusiastic and familiar, which he didn’t appreciate. Even though the three of them often ate together, boundaries still existed.

“So, what’s up? Are you free tomorrow afternoon? I need to talk to you about something!”

Qiu Xue’s excited voice came over the phone, accompanied by heavy breathing.

“What is it? Tell me first.”

Gu Jiaoyang took a bite of his apple. He wasn’t particularly keen on going out.

“I can’t talk about it on the phone! It’s really, really important! It concerns my future! Please, I need you!”

Fine. I have time, but we have to be quick. I’m going home tomorrow night, so I won’t be staying at school.

Gu Jiaoyang agreed after hearing the desperation in the other boy’s voice, but he felt a little suspicious. What was so important that he couldn’t even tell his own brother, but had to come to him?

However, he didn’t think much more of it, figuring it might be one of those secrets that were difficult to share even between close brothers.

The next afternoon, the weather was cloudy. While the sun was hidden, the air felt muggy and heavy.

Gu Jiaoyang rubbed his arm, feeling the sticky air outside, and really didn’t want to leave. But remembering he had promised, he reluctantly grabbed his canvas bag and headed out to keep the appointment.

They had agreed to meet at the library entrance and then go to the coffee shop. Since it sounded like they had something serious to discuss, Gu Jiaoyang didn’t take much with him just his usual canvas bag containing his phone, a charging cable, and some tissues.

“Yangyang! Over here!”

As soon as Gu Jiaoyang arrived, Qiu Xue jumped up and waved, a gesture that unexpectedly caught his eye.

Normally, Qiu Xue wore simple T-shirts and trousers, quietly trailing behind Qiu Yu, speaking little, and looking studious with his glasses.

Today, however, he was wearing a shirt and a casual bow tie. His hair looked neatly combed, and he wasn’t wearing his glasses, presumably having switched to contact lenses.

“Wow, you look really smart today,” Gu Jiaoyang said politely.

“D-do I?” Qiu Xue was flustered by the sudden compliment. Without his glasses to hide behind, his expression became obvious, and he shyly looked down.

“Mhm. Boys should be more confident. Confidence makes you look even better.”

Hearing Gu Jiaoyang’s praise made Qiu Xue’s heart pound wildly. The carefully rehearsed opening speech he had gone over time and again was completely swallowed. All he could do was blush and nod repeatedly.

“Let’s go.”

It was a bit of a walk to the coffee shop, and the route passed by the small grove near the square.

Due to the overcast sky, the light was dull and dim, so Gu Jiaoyang walked quickly, keen not to linger outside.

“What exactly is it you need to talk to me about?” Gu Jiaoyang asked Qiu Xue, who, after his initially different behaviour, had become quiet again after only two sentences, walking meekly behind him without saying another word.

“Yangyang, can we talk about it when we get there? It’s not really appropriate to discuss here,” Qiu Xue replied, not daring to look him in the face.

Why is he being so cagey? There’s no one else around, Gu Jiaoyang thought.

Still, he decided not to press the issue, reasoning that perhaps the other person only felt comfortable talking in a closed space.

After they passed the little grove, Gu Jiaoyang glanced back and noticed that the oppressive Yin energy that usually hung around the area was gone. The father ghost seemed to be absent.

Or maybe he had just moved on to bother someone else.

Gu Jiaoyang gave a momentary, wandering thought to the matter, and a short while later, the two of them arrived at the coffee shop.

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