The Ultimate Glow-Up Guide for Straight Men - Chapter 3

When Ye Zheng said the price, he emphasized every syllable with a strange sense of pride, as if he were the one who could actually afford the clothes.

The price caused Shen Zhinan to gasp. He had thought a hoodie would cost a few hundred dollars at most. He truly could not understand how someone could spend that much money on a single hoodie.

He squeezed out a smile that looked more like a cry: “Student Gu, how about I take it to the dry cleaners for you?”

Quite a few people were already watching. Gu Yunshen was, after all, the school hunk, and Shen Zhinan was his famous “licking dog.” Many were waiting to see a good show, and some were even secretly recording videos.

Gu Yunshen pursed his lips as he looked at Shen Zhinan. This Omega had been harassing him for over a year, sticking to him like a piece of plaster that couldn’t be peeled off. Everything that needed to be said had been said; he simply had no words for this Omega.

Gu Yunshen knew that given the Omega’s circumstances, he definitely could not afford the compensation. He didn’t know what this Omega was up to after being quiet for two months. Gu Yunshen said irritably: “Shen Zhinan, I am warning you. Stop playing these tricks. It is truly boring.”

Gu Yunshen took off his hoodie, revealing a white T-shirt underneath. The white color made Gu Yunshen look much more refreshed. This was his way of letting the matter go.

Shen Zhinan had just been mentally calculating his assets and thought that if it really came down to it, he would just write an IOU. He exhaled, thinking to himself that this school hunk was actually a “good sprout.”

Shen Zhinan ordered another bowl of oil-splashed noodles. He returned to the dormitory, delivered the noodles and the packages, and earned 34 dollars.

He didn’t even let the packaging boxes go once the students unpacked them. Since most people didn’t want them, Shen Zhinan took them back to his dorm and put them in a burlap sack under his desk. Inside were cardboard boxes and some plastic bottles. Once the bag was full, he would take them to be sold together.

The other three people in the dorm were out. Many people went out to have fun on the weekends, so Shen Zhinan lay on his bed to take a nap.

Fu Yanshi was awakened by the sound of crying.

The crying was incredibly piercing, hitting one’s soul directly. It sounded hysterical, as if mourning something about to be lost, yet it also made one want to shed tears. To put it simply, if you didn’t know better, you would think someone was wailing at a grave.

“Cough…” Fu Yanshi frowned slightly, looking at the boy huddled by his bed. “I am not dead yet.”

“Brother!” Hearing Fu Yanshi’s voice, Fu Zihan suddenly threw himself into Fu Yanshi’s arms. “Brother, you are finally awake! Wahhh… I was so worried about you…”

Fu Yanshi was actually fine, but Fu Zihan’s sudden pounce pressed against his IV tube, causing Fu Yanshi to cough violently again.

Zhou Xin, who had just come out of the bathroom, saw this and quickly ran over to pull Fu Zihan away.

“Yanshi, you are awake,” Zhou Xin said with concern. “How are you feeling? Is anything wrong?”

“I am fine.” Fu Yanshi gave Zhou Xin a faint look, thinking to himself: What are you pretending for? Aren’t you the person in this world who wants something to happen to me the most?

If something happened to him, her precious son could naturally inherit the Fu family business. Toward this stepmother, Fu Yanshi could only maintain a surface-level politeness. Toward his half-brother, his attitude was simple: go stay wherever it’s cool.

Yet, Fu Zihan was inexplicably clingy toward him.

Seeing that Fu Yanshi was awake, Fu Zihan’s emotions stabilized. He sniffled, leaned toward Fu Yanshi’s head, and blew a puff of air: “Whoosh, whoosh, the pain flies away.”

At that moment, a breeze blew in from the window, ruffling Fu Yanshi’s hair slightly. Fu Yanshi looked at Fu Zihan for two seconds and said: “Fu Zihan, if your snot touches my hair, you can wait for a black-haired person to send off a red-headed car, and say a final goodbye to your remote-controlled toy cars.”

The grudges belonged to the previous generation, and since Fu Zihan was so young, those matters had nothing to do with him. But then again, when he was Fu Zihan’s age, he was already visiting his mother’s grave. So, this “snot-bug” still made Fu Yanshi very annoyed.

Hearing this, Fu Zihan quickly grabbed several tissues from the nightstand to blow his nose. Once finished, he tugged on Fu Yanshi’s sleeve and said pitifully: “Brother, I wiped it all clean. Please do not hate me.”

Fu Yanshi flashed a gentle smile: “If you walk out of this hospital room right now and go play somewhere else, I will be the person who likes you most in this world.”

Zhou Xin went out to call a doctor. When she returned, she saw Fu Zihan’s eyes were even redder. Knowing Fu Yanshi didn’t want the two of them around, she held Fu Zihan close. “Chengfeng is in a meeting at the company. He heard you were awake and is rushing over.”

“Mhm.” Fu Yanshi was sending a message on his phone and didn’t even look up as he gave a faint response. Whether his father came or not didn’t matter to him.

The ward fell into silence. Fu Yanshi looked up at Zhou Xin, his eyes asking, “Is there anything else?”

The doctor came in to check on him and said that Fu Yanshi had a good physical constitution and nothing was seriously wrong. He just needed to rest quietly for a while. The doctor listed some dietary restrictions, and Zhou Xin listened intently. After hearing the medical advice, she finally took Fu Zihan and left. Fu Zihan looked back at Fu Yanshi reluctantly as they walked away.

Fu Yanshi’s face remained expressionless. After they left, he dialed a number. The call connected, and a raspy voice came from the other end: “Hello.”

Fu Yanshi: “He Yanzhou, did you arrange the person in my room last night?”

He Yanzhou was suddenly wide awake. He had long been worried about Fu Yanshi, who had a reputation for being a “playboy” but was actually a virgin Alpha. He was a handsome Alpha, successful in his career, and the quintessential “child of someone else” that parents in their circle praised. Having achieved his professional goals, it was time for him to enjoy life.

He Yanzhou was genuinely worried his friend might suffer from premature impotence. Fu Yanshi was 27, and He Yanzhou had never seen him show interest in any Omega. No one had made it into his heart over the years. People like them would eventually have to enter political or business marriages, so they should enjoy a few years of freedom before entering the “grave of marriage.”

Last night, seeing Fu Yanshi show a bit of interest in that little server, He Yanzhou naturally had to arrange things so his brother could finally have a taste. He had delegated the task to the manager, who promised it was handled.

“Oh, Old Fu, you don’t need to thank me too much!” He Yanzhou said with a laugh. “This is just what a brother should do!”

“So? Was last night happy? Was it exciting?”

Fu Yanshi sneered and unleashed a string of colorful language at He Yanzhou.

“He Yanzhou, you are a total idiot! I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to know a jerk like you!” Fu Yanshi took a break to drink some water. “Did I give you too much freedom? I just praised you for becoming smarter yesterday, and then you pull this act on me. Did you hide when humanity was evolving?”

He Yanzhou, having been greeted so “kindly” early in the morning, lost all sleepiness and felt inexplicably wronged: “Bro, did you eat gunpowder this morning? I just arranged for someone to serve you! If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again. Why are you cursing?”

Fu Yanshi took a photo of his bandaged head and sent it over. “You certainly know how to arrange things.”

He Yanzhou: “Holy crap! What happened to you!”

Fu Yanshi looked at the small nameplate clenched in his hand, his tone dark: “It was done by your ‘good’ employee, Wang Xiao Ming. Bring him to me so I can give him a taste of his own medicine, and then we will call it even. Otherwise,” Fu Yanshi snorted, “wait for your dirty laundry to be exposed and your bank cards to be frozen by your father.”

Fu Yanshi hung up.

Wang. Xiao. Ming. You just wait.

A week passed after that incident. On Friday night, Shen Zhinan wore a black mask and boarded the No. 857 bus. He planned to lie in wait in a small alley near the club. This alley was the path the “fat pig” manager always took to get home.

In the late spring night, the wind was a bit chilly. Shen Zhinan shivered. His head had been feeling dizzy since the morning, and he suspected he was coming down with a cold. He checked the time: 1:00 AM. There were two hours left until the club closed.

Shen Zhinan’s stomach growled. He was truly cold and hungry. Fine, he needed to eat his fill to have the strength to fix that pig.

At the end of an alley, he saw a noodle shop. He pushed the door open and saw a man with gauze wrapped around his head eating noodles. Hearing the door open, the man looked up at Shen Zhinan.

The man had thick eyebrows, deep eyes, a high bridge to his nose, and a cold, pale complexion. His features were so exquisite they looked carved, and he was handsome in a very aggressive way. He wore a simple white shirt and was strikingly good-looking.

Shen Zhinan thought to himself: Is this “little white face” some kind of celebrity? With these looks, if he were a star, he’d be incredibly popular. If he got an autograph and sold it second-hand, it could probably fetch a lot of money.

“Boss, I want a bowl of beef noodles.”

The noodle shop was small with limited seating. Shen Zhinan sat three seats away from the man and peeked at him. He didn’t know much about the entertainment industry here, so he opened his browser to try a reverse-image search to see which star this was.

When the noodles arrived, Shen Zhinan pretended to take a photo of the bowl. He tilted the camera angle bit by bit. While the man was looking down to eat, he decisively pressed the shutter.

Click! A white flash went off, and the man turned his head to look at Shen Zhinan.

“Holy crap!”

Panicking, Shen Zhinan’s hand slipped. The phone fell into the noodle bowl, splashing soup all over the table.

Shen Zhinan: “!”

The man: “…?”

Shen Zhinan quickly pulled the phone out. He hissed in pain from the hot soup and grabbed several napkins to wipe the device. After drying it, he tried to turn it on, but the screen remained black.

Suddenly, the light was blocked. A gaze fell upon him from above. Shen Zhinan looked up and met a pair of beautiful peach-blossom eyes. The man spoke: “Are you secretly taking photos of me?”