Chapter 38

"Would he make things difficult for you when he went back?"

Su Yu could not imagine how the other man could make things difficult for him. At most, he would put on a cold face. Su Yu was far too used to that and did not consider it any sort of hardship.

"Probably not."

"That's good. If you run into any difficulties working under him, you can tell me. I can help you find a better job."

"Mm, thank you."

"Come on, let's leave campus together."

The two of them left the campus together. At the school gate, Su Yu saw Gu Lin's car. The window was down, and Gu Lin had clearly seen him too—he even honked twice. Su Yu said goodbye to Lu Heyun before walking over.

That person... looked oddly familiar.

But he could not remember where he had seen him before.

There were too many insignificant people. He could not possibly remember them all. Besides, no one in this world was worth making a special effort to remember.

Gu Lin glanced at the Omega opening the car door. "You came back so quickly. Why didn't you talk a little longer?"

If not for his unfriendly tone, Su Yu might really have thought he was that generous. He sat down and fastened his seat belt, moving lightly and saying nothing, quiet as could be.

Wasn't it you who honked for me to come back?

Su Yu muttered silently to himself.

Gu Lin said, "...Unreasonable."

Su Yu: "???"

Had he said anything?

Gu Lin had really been getting more and more baffling lately.

After Yun Shang went back to school, Su Yu had nothing much to do these days. As usual, he stayed home all day, either playing games or editing videos. The only thing he found remotely interesting was the video Lu Chengfei had sent him a few days ago.

It was a video of Lu Chengfei reading his self-criticism beneath the national flag. He had really apologized to Yun Shang in public.

Su Yu had been the one to ask him to record it. After sending it, Lu Chengfei had not replied to any more messages, lying in Su Yu's contact list like a dead account.

Su Yu guessed Lu Chengfei probably never wanted to see him again for the rest of his life.

On Friday afternoon, Su Yu was sitting on the sofa, eating snacks and watching a drama, when he suddenly received a message from Gu Lin. Gu Lin told him that Young Uncle and Young Aunt were on their way over and told him to tidy up properly.

Gu Lin did not specify what exactly he needed to tidy, but Su Yu could vaguely guess. He stared at the opened bags of chips on the coffee table, each of which he had not even tasted yet, and fell into deep thought.

When would they arrive? Could he finish all this before they got here?

[Gu Lin: Very soon. They'll be here in five minutes.]

What?

Five minutes?

Su Yu immediately started cleaning up his things. The aunt nearby looked puzzled by his frantic movements. She checked the time—it was not yet when Gu Lin usually came home. Why was he tidying up so early today?

Though confused, she went over to help when she saw Su Yu cleaning.

Gu Lin's timing had indeed been precise. Su Yu had barely managed to finish tidying before they entered. The moment Young Aunt saw him, she greeted him warmly and said she had brought him a gift that was still on its way.

Gu Lin, who entered slightly after them, asked, "What kind of gift is still on its way? Don't tell me it's a person?"

Young Aunt teased, "If I brought someone over, you might get jealous."

Gu Lin snorted and glanced at Su Yu. "What would I be jealous of?"

"You wouldn't be jealous? If other Alphas were surrounding Xiao Hui, you still wouldn't be jealous?"

Gu Lin did not want to answer that sort of question. "As long as we're not divorced, no other Alpha will have that chance."

From his words, his marriage seemed to truly be nothing more than a relationship maintained on the surface. Young Aunt glanced at Su Yu, only to see his eyes lowered. She had no idea what he was thinking.

Seeing that the atmosphere was off, Young Uncle quickly changed the subject. "Didn't we say we'd pick up Shang Shang and go out for dinner? We should get ready to pick up Shang Shang."

Young Aunt agreed, "Oh, right, right. Let's go get ready. Shang Shang will be out of class soon too."

Su Yu had nothing to prepare. At Young Aunt's invitation, he went out with them. Young Uncle opened the rear door for her and had originally planned to sit in the back with her, but Young Aunt pulled Su Yu over and said, "Come on, Xiao Hui. We'll sit together."

"Then where am I supposed to sit?"

Just as Young Aunt was about to get in, she said, "Sit wherever you want."

"I'm sitting in the back too."

As he spoke, he was about to climb in, but Young Aunt shut the door. "You should sit in front. Shang Shang needs a seat too."

Young Uncle: "..."

Gu Lin, seated in the driver's seat, glanced at Young Uncle. He really had no status at all.

As Young Uncle fastened his seat belt, he said, "What are you looking at? Maybe one day you'll end up like me. Your Omega's personality is pretty..."

Gu Lin coughed twice. Young Uncle suddenly remembered that Young Aunt still did not know about that video, so he hurriedly stopped talking.

Still, he could not resist looking back out of curiosity. Su Yu truly looked exceptionally quiet, delicate and weak, like a harmless rabbit that could be frightened at any moment. He looked nothing like he had in the video.

No way?

Was he really that good at pretending?

And he could talk, too.

Interesting. He was not sure yet. He would keep watching.

Young Aunt noticed his gaze and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Young Uncle hurriedly withdrew his gaze and said it was nothing. Then he leaned closer to Gu Lin and quietly reminded him, "You need to be careful. Before I started dating your Young Aunt, she was pretty good at pretending too."

Gu Lin thought that Su Yu was only good with words. In every other respect, he had no particular advantages.

Gu Lin said, "She's still pretending quite well now. Acting all considerate and understanding."

"That's true..." Young Uncle had just agreed with Gu Lin when he suddenly realized that speaking badly of his wife behind her back was extremely ungentlemanly. "What pretending? She is considerate and understanding. It's wrong of you to say that."

Gu Lin gave a bland "Oh." "Considerately sending you up here to sit, considerately taking back your salary."

"What do you know? This is called painful happiness. You haven't experienced it yet."

Gu Lin: "..."

He was beyond saving.

"What are you two whispering about? You're not talking badly about me, are you?"

"No, absolutely not. We were just discussing work-related matters."

Young Aunt looked at the two Alphas in the front with suspicion. "Really?"

Young Uncle gave Gu Lin a look. Gu Lin understood and gave an "Mm." "We were discussing work."

What else could they say? For the sake of their lives, they could only have been discussing work. They had to have been discussing work.

Though she did not quite believe them, Young Aunt did not pursue the matter for now. "Fine. Drive."

Su Yu was currently wondering whether the injury on Yun Shang's face had healed. What would Young Aunt's reaction be if she saw it later?

Even at dismissal time, there were still many people outside the high school gates. Young Aunt messaged Yun Shang to tell him they would be going out to eat together and that Su Yu was there too. After getting his phone, Yun Shang told her that he was on cleaning duty today and would come over a little later.

"I didn't expect Shang Shang to reply so quickly this time."

She had thought she would need to call him again, like usual.

Su Yu smiled and used his memo app to tell Young Aunt: He might miss you.

Young Aunt stared blankly at those words for a while, a troubled expression appearing on her face. In the end, she smiled, shook her head, and sighed helplessly. "It would be nice if that were true."

It was only a possibility.

[Su Yu: Shang Shang listens to you. He remembers what you say.]

He had merely remembered it silently, without giving any response.

Young Aunt said openly, "You don't need to comfort me. I'm already used to it."

Actually, she was very busy and spent very little time with Yun Shang. It was only natural that Yun Shang was not close to her. Ever since he was little, he had always been alone and could not get along with the children his age in the family either.

After hearing that, Su Yu did not say anything more. It was better to let Yun Shang show it himself.

Most of the students at the school gate had already left, with only groups of two or three passing by. Finally, they saw Yun Shang. He was still wearing that spotless blue-and-white school uniform, a white mask, and a backpack. But this time, he had not come out alone.

Su Yu's expression shifted slightly when he saw who was beside Yun Shang.

What the hell were Lu Chengfei and the others doing?

Were they coming over to offer themselves up?

If Young Uncle and Young Aunt saw Yun Shang's facial injury before it healed, Su Yu could not guarantee what would happen.

Young Aunt asked in confusion, "Why are so many people following Shang Shang? Did he make friends at school?"

M-Maybe.

Su Yu thought.

He lowered his head, unlocked his phone, and pulled up Lu Chengfei's contact information. He rapidly typed: You little brat, why are you surrounding Yun Shang with a whole group of people? Don't tell me you're planning to start something?

Not far away, Lu Chengfei stopped to look at his phone, then scanned the area as though searching for him.

Lu Chengfei sent a voice message. Su Yu had intended to convert it to text, but he accidentally hit play—and in his panic, he even turned the volume all the way up.

"Go to hell. Who the fuck are you calling a little brat? Right after I sent you that apology video last week, the dean found my phone and confiscated it. Now he watches me do homework every day. Yun Shang's is the most complete in the whole class, so of course I have to borrow it and copy it."

For a moment, the atmosphere inside the car was utterly silent. Everyone looked at him. Even Gu Lin, who was indifferent to everything, turned around and stared at him.

Su Yu: "..."

Fuck.

A plant.

This was so embarrassing.

Young Aunt asked tentatively, "Is that Shang Shang's... classmate?"

Su Yu slowly nodded.

"It sounds like you know each other too."

Su Yu explained: We just added each other. Not long ago. I only know his brother.

Young Aunt nodded thoughtfully. "I see."

At that moment, Lu Chengfei was still sending him messages, and his phone kept chiming nonstop. But Su Yu did not open them. He silently turned off his phone instead.