Chapter 33

After lunch, Gu Lin saw him downstairs and told him he had a meeting that afternoon. The moment Su Yu heard that, he perked up considerably. He had finally been looking forward to Gu Lin leaving.

"You're coming with me too."

Gu Lin was talking about Yun Shang.

Yun Shang, sitting in the back seat with his backpack in his arms, shook his head. "Not going."

Gu Lin gave him a warning. "You still have homework left to finish."

Yet Yun Shang replied as if he had not understood, "No."

Gu Lin snorted coldly. "Yun Shang, if you keep copying your dad and playing dumb, I'll send you back to Grandmother's house."

He was autistic, not brain-damaged.

After that, the atmosphere in the car became somewhat stifling. Yun Shang lowered his eyes without speaking, looking rather pitiful, like a little animal that had been scolded by its owner and curled up in a corner.

[Why are you being so harsh? Seriously.]

Seeing Yun Shang like this, Su Yu could not help recalling what had happened at the mall yesterday.

[He gets excluded by those little brats at school, and at home, he gets scolded by his own family. What a miserable life.]

He would not be able to stand it if it were happening to him.

...Although his own situation seemed even worse than Yun Shang's right now.

The mall?

Little brats?

Gu Lin's expression softened slightly. "Come back with me. I'll bring you over to pick him up later."

On one hand, Gu Lin wanted to take Yun Shang back simply because he did not want the two of them alone together. On the other hand, Su Yu had kept thinking about how he would have to pay compensation if he did not work tonight. Gu Lin thought he might as well let Su Yu work properly and see what Gu Lin was like when he worked.

Unexpectedly, he had become the bad guy instead.

[Later? How much later?]

[Can't he give an exact time?]

Su Yu began worrying that Gu Lin would suddenly show up while he was streaming.

"..." So demanding.

Yun Shang still said nothing. It was not until his phone chimed that Su Yu gently nudged him, signaling for him to check it.

[Su Yu: Go back with him first. I still have things to take care of here, so I might not be able to look after you.]

Yun Shang nodded.

Su Yu's persuasion had been far too easy, making Gu Lin curious about what exactly had happened yesterday.

However, before Gu Lin even had time to investigate, Young Uncle sent him a video. It seemed to have been recorded on the scene, starting from when the conflict with them began and continuing until Su Yu left. Afterward, Young Uncle sent him the hotel's complete surveillance footage as well.

Young Uncle's first words were: Your Omega is a match for your Young Aunt. Pretty fierce.

Gu Lin asked where the video had come from. Young Uncle told him that the person who had sent it was one of his business partners, who had happened to be dining at the restaurant that day. Seeing Yun Shang and Su Yu clash with those students, he had recorded it and sent it over.

[Young Uncle: Your Omega can talk? He usually looks so quiet, but he sure has quite the temper.]

That was rather thought-provoking. Why did Su Yu have two completely different faces in public and private? And Gu Lin had heard long ago that the Omega Old Master arranged for him was mute.

Unless he was not the Su family's Omega.

[Gu Lin: I'll explain this to you later. Don't expose him for now, and don't tell Young Aunt either.]

Young Uncle expressed some surprise. You knew all along?

Of course Gu Lin had known all along. Not only did he know Su Yu could speak, he was driven crazy by Su Yu's chatter every day.

[Young Uncle: Didn't expect you to be so protective of him.]

Gu Lin thought Young Uncle had misunderstood. He did not simply want to protect Su Yu. He only wanted to watch him keep acting; he wanted to see exactly when Su Yu would gain control of his body.

Mm.

That was all.

[Young Uncle: Fine, I got it. We'll keep this secret for now. When I get back, I'll treat you both to a meal.]

[Gu Lin: Split the bill?]

[Young Uncle: What are you talking about? How could I make you pay? After all, your Omega will be there.]

The unspoken meaning was that he would lose face if he made Gu Lin pay.

[Gu Lin: So if he isn't there, we split the bill?]

[Young Uncle: You know how it is. Married men have to watch their spending carefully, or they'll leave a bad impression on their wives.]

Gu Lin coldly replied with a single "Oh."

Mainly because Young Uncle had no money.

[Young Uncle: You don't believe me? Spend money recklessly in front of your Omega and see how he reacts.]

Gu Lin thought, what reaction could Su Yu possibly have? Su Yu spent even more freely than he did. Besides, their relationship was nowhere near as good as Young Uncle and Young Aunt's. Su Yu had never considered them a married couple, so Gu Lin's money was still his own to spend however he wanted.

[Young Uncle: Oh dear, look at my memory. I forgot that your relationship hasn't reached that point yet. You wouldn't understand.]

Gu Lin did not quite understand him. Young Uncle complained about having no money while taking pride in his situation, flaunted his affection in front of Gu Lin while pretending to be pitiful.

[Young Uncle: I'm done talking to you. My wife's off work, so I'm going to video call her.]

After replying, he truly did not send any more messages.

Gu Lin: "..."

Work?

Gu Lin checked the time. It was already past seven in the evening, and the sky outside had gone dark. Su Yu should have started working by now.

Only then did he realize that he had no idea what Su Yu's streaming account was.

Gu Lin pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been careless.

*

[Is the camera on yet? Is the camera on yet?]

[Why is it pitch-black? I can't see anything.]

[Will we finally get to see what Young Master looks like tonight?]

Before the stream had even started, the comments were already flooding in. After Su Yu adjusted the camera, he sat down and turned on his mic. The official host was still connected with other streamers, so Su Yu had nothing to do for the moment.

He turned on the camera.

[???]

[What the hell is this?!]

[Didn't you say you'd show your face?]

[Fuck... That Green-Headed Fish scared the life out of me when it popped up.]

Su Yu's gear was the Green-Headed Fish mask he had bought at the mall, the same thing Gu Lin had found utterly baffling when he saw it on the list. He was also wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. With the hood up, he had himself wrapped up completely.

Su Yu noticed the camera was slightly crooked. As he adjusted it, he said, "Who said I'd show my face? You people made that up yourselves. I never said it, and the organizers never required me to show my face either. They only asked me to participate in the event."

The Green-Headed Fish mask, coupled with the goofy voice changer he always used, made him sound utterly bizarre.

[He even... still has the voice changer effects on.]

[What exactly were we expecting?]

After fixing it, Su Yu sat back down in his chair. "Besides, I'm a gaming streamer, not a looks streamer. You want to see my face? Keep dreaming."

Su Yu played for a while as he waited for the official host to connect with him. He was much more talkative now. Seeing that the background of his stream had changed, the viewers asked why he was no longer streaming from that mansion.

"What mansion? I told you, it was rented. It's not mine."

The room Su Yu lived in was decorated too extravagantly, looking expensive from every angle. Coupled with how he never hesitated to dump money into games, the viewers did not believe for a second that the place he lived in was rented.

That house truly was not his. It belonged to Gu Lin. He was afraid that if they got divorced and he stopped living there someday, people would accuse him of pretending to be rich.

After playing for a while, Su Yu got thirsty. He instinctively picked up the cup beside him to drink, only to fail. "I forgot I'm wearing a mask."

[If it really comes down to it, just take the mask off before drinking.]

[Exactly. Young Master, don't make yourself suffer. There are still two or three hours before the stream ends.]

[Take it off, take it off.]

The comments began egging him on to remove the mask. Su Yu slapped the desk in agreement. "Of course I can't make myself suffer. Do I look like someone who'd make himself suffer?"

After saying that, he got up and left the room. When he returned, he was carrying several bottles of milk. He inserted straws into them in front of the camera, and the Green-Headed Fish mask did not affect his ability to drink milk at all.

It was milk he had bought before. It would expire if he did not finish it soon, so he might as well deal with it all at once.

[What exactly was I expecting?]

Su Yu also had his stream open on his phone. Not long after it began, the phone started vibrating. Someone had sent him a Carnival gift, and Su Yu glanced at the username.

Oh, it was that idiot Su Wang.

Sending gifts just to get attention?

Whatever. He would pretend not to see it. If Su Wang wanted to watch, he could watch. If he wanted to send gifts, he could send them.

But Su Yu never imagined that Su Wang was not only watching his stream right then, but had also dragged Su Tinghuai into watching with him.

Su Tinghuai did not think that Green-Headed Fish was interesting in the slightest, but Su Wang was having a great time beside him, looking like a complete idiot.

He finally understood what the legendary brain-dead fan was like.

Su Wang casually glanced at Su Tinghuai and saw him processing documents. He leaned over, propped the tablet up in front of Su Tinghuai, then took the pen from his hand, signaling for him to watch the stream.

Su Tinghuai told him expressionlessly, "Take it away. I can't stand watching it. I'm not interested."

"Big Brother, don't you think his behavior and words have this amusing air of someone missing part of his brain stem?"

"You're no different from him."

Su Wang did not catch the sarcasm at all. He merely continued along with Su Tinghuai's words. "You think so too, right? So isn't that some kind of resonance? Do you think Mom had more than just the three of us?"

"Then you should ask her."

"True. I'll get her to watch it someday too."

"What are you doing?"

Su Tinghuai grabbed Su Wang's hand. Su Wang looked up at him, his expression baffled, as if asking whether Su Tinghuai could not see what he was so obviously doing.

He said, "Sending gifts."

He made it sound as though sending gifts to this streamer was a perfectly ordinary and natural thing to do.

The moment Su Tinghuai released his hand, Su Wang tapped the tablet screen and sent another gift.

"...Is there something wrong with you?"

Su Tinghuai meant his brain.

He now seriously suspected that Su Wang had masochistic tendencies. The streamer had not even acknowledged him, yet Su Wang was happily throwing gifts at him.

"I'll let him get used to the days when I send him gifts. Then after a while, when I stop, maybe he'll come apologize to me."

When that happened, he definitely would not forgive Su Yu easily. He would make Su Yu apologize to him like crazy, make him wish he could crawl into a hole, make him feel ashamed, make him regret it bitterly.

Just thinking about it gave him an inexplicable thrill.

Before going to sleep tonight, he needed to think carefully about his lines.

Su Tinghuai raised a hand and smacked the back of his head. Su Wang stared at him in shock. "Big Brother, you hit me?"

Su Tinghuai snorted coldly. "Your brain must be full of water."

Seeing Su Tinghuai's expression turn cold, Su Wang hurriedly hugged his tablet and rolled to the other end of the sofa. "Bro, bro, bro, let's talk this out. Don't use violence. It's uncivilized, uncivilized."

"Big Brother, you actually hit me because I sent gifts. It's just a little money. Was that really necessary?"

Su Tinghuai was so angry that he laughed, then immediately told Su Wang to pack his things and get out of the study.

"Fine, I'm leaving."