Chapter 42

Su Yu chose noon on Tuesday. He picked a restaurant on the second floor of a large downtown mall because there would be a lot of people there. If the other party really tried anything, he could take the opportunity to leave.

After Su Yu sent the address, the other party replied with only three words: Too noisy.

Seriously?

Just how old was this uncle? Even a mall was too loud for him.

Were older people all like this, preferring quieter places?

[Su Yu: Then you tell me. Where do you want to go?]

[Aaa Building Materials Wholesale: Pick a coffee shop.]

[Su Yu: That's not right. Shouldn't you be picking a teahouse to drink tea? Coffee isn't good for older people. You won't be able to sleep at night.]

[Aaa Building Materials Wholesale: Is it possible that I'm not old yet?]

Su Yu didn't believe him. The man kept the schedule of an elderly person, going to bed as soon as it got late and unable to stand staying up. Even his profile picture looked so mature that it gave off the feeling that he was advanced in years.

[Su Yu: I'm not going to a coffee shop. I don't like coffee. Go by yourself.]

[Su Yu: How about this? Let's go to a KTV. I'll bring a few more friends, and we can play while discussing business. If we close the deal, I'll sing you a couple of songs to liven things up.]

[Aaa Building Materials Wholesale: ...Forget it. Let's go downtown.]

There were still two days until Tuesday noon. During those two days, Su Yu didn't livestream at night, but he was so bored that whenever the time came, he went to chat with the building materials wholesaler. Su Yu even asked for his name, but the other man refused to say it. He wouldn't even give his surname, acting all mysterious.

His Moments page was completely blank. Su Yu didn't know whether he had been blocked or whether the man had locked his Moments.

What a lack of sincerity. He would just keep calling him Uncle.

The other party even complained that Su Yu talked too much, telling him to read more books when he had nothing to do instead of seeking validation online every day. In response, Su Yu said he would rather rot away in a game than read.

"You're acting strange. You've been staring at your phone ever since we came out."

Young Uncle handed Gu Lin a drink, but Gu Lin didn't take it. Instead, he turned off his screen, raised his slightly lowered eyes, and said, "Did you ask me out just to drink?"

He only drank when he had no choice at business engagements. Normally, if anyone asked him out for drinks, he declined outright, so he had no drinking buddies at all.

Young Uncle set the drink down and said, "It seems you still don't know your uncle well enough."

Gu Lin said expressionlessly, "I haven't touched a drop. Don't come looking to me for money."

Out of all his cousins, his Young Uncle was the most unreliable. Ever since Gu Lin was little, the man had loved setting him up. Meals, drinks, even coincidentally going on business trips to the same place—he always had to call Gu Lin along, because Gu Lin would pay.

At first, Gu Lin really thought all his money had been handed over to Young Aunt, leaving him too poor to spend any. Later, he learned that the man had simply gotten used to taking advantage of him.

"We're family. Don't keep such careful accounts. Family bonds are priceless."

Gu Lin sneered. "Do I really need this family bond?"

Young Uncle sat down and said, "Today is a special day. Send me half the cost of the drinks on WeChat, and I'll pay you back when I give out New Year's red envelopes."

Gu Lin: "..."

He had heard that last sentence ever since childhood.

"What you give me isn't even a tenth of what I give Yun Shang."

Gu Lin's phone began vibrating again. Young Uncle's gaze landed on its flashing notification light, his eyes carrying a hint of teasing. "Your phone's been going off forever. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were in love."

"Could it be a message from your Omega?"

But thinking about it, the relationship between those two was still so unfamiliar that there was barely any interaction to be seen. They didn't look like a married couple at all.

Young Uncle tried to lean over for a look. Noticing it, Gu Lin shifted his phone away and didn't let him see it. "Keep drinking."

Young Uncle narrowed his eyes. "Feeling guilty?"

"I'll pay."

"Fine. I'll pretend I don't know anything."

Young Uncle was right. The messages really were from Su Yu. People truly couldn't be too idle, or they would start making trouble for themselves. Gu Lin didn't understand why Su Yu had so much to say.

[Su Yu: Through a screen, who isn't a social butterfly?]

A while later, Su Yu messaged him that he had arranged to play games with someone, then stopped messaging him. Gu Lin, on the other hand, checked his phone from time to time. Young Uncle, who had taken in every one of his actions, casually remarked, "Don't you think your behavior is strange right now?"

Gu Lin's brows drew together slightly, as though he didn't understand what he meant. He asked, "What behavior?"

Young Uncle set down his drink and leaned back against the sofa. He stretched out an arm, intending to drape it over Gu Lin, but Gu Lin shot him a glance that told him to move it. Young Uncle withdrew his hand and continued, "The way you look now reminds me of when I first started dating your Young Aunt."

"So you are chatting with your Omega, right?"

Gu Lin didn't answer.

After a moment of silence, Young Uncle feigned surprise. "Don't tell me you aren't? Do you have someone else you like? That's immoral. You two aren't divorced yet."

"Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

"Who knows?"

Gu Lin slowly picked up his phone and opened WeChat in front of him. Young Aunt had messaged him a few minutes earlier to ask where Young Uncle was. He hadn't known how to reply at the time, so he had pretended not to see it and left it unanswered.

Young Uncle watched him type the two characters for "drinking" into the text box. Before he could type the third, Young Uncle pressed his screen dark. "Of course I know you're not that kind of person. I was only joking."

Gu Lin gave a cold laugh, clearly not finding the joke funny. "I was joking too."

"Still, how long is your Omega planning to keep pretending? Watching that video, I could tell he isn't someone who can take injustice lying down. Not being able to speak must be terribly stifling, right?"

Gu Lin had long since told Young Uncle Su Yu's true identity. This was also considered a secret between them. He hadn't even told Young Aunt that Su Yu could speak.

"I don't know."

He hadn't told him the real reason Su Yu couldn't speak. No one would probably believe it if he did.

If it had been in the past, Gu Lin definitely wouldn't have believed it either. It wasn't scientific at all. But now, his state of mind and his thoughts had become completely different from before, because the absurd thing of mind reading had happened to him.

"Wouldn't he want to resist you?"

Young Uncle knew Gu Lin well. Gu Lin had always spoken bluntly since childhood, and sometimes he was so blunt that his words became unpleasant.

"He would."

There was no doubt about that, because Su Yu cursed him in his head every day. If Su Yu could speak, Gu Lin's ears would never know peace again. And if he could use his hands, he might very well throw a punch too.

Young Uncle patted his shoulder and laughed heartily. "Then holding it in must be painful for him. I'm really looking forward to seeing the moment he can't endure it anymore. Just thinking about it is amusing."

Gu Lin: "?"

"When you get beaten up, remember to tell me which hospital you're in. No matter what, Uncle will make time to visit you, considering how often you support Uncle financially."

Gu Lin began to suspect that he was his long-term meal ticket.

Forget it. There was no need to suspect it. He was.

*

At noon on Tuesday, Gu Lin left home in the morning as usual. Su Yu also went out close to eleven and told the housekeeper that he would not be eating lunch at home. The housekeeper found it rather strange. Why was neither of them coming home for lunch? When Gu Lin left that morning, he had also mentioned that there was no need to prepare his portion for lunch.

Although Su Yu had chosen both the time and the place, when he arrived at the restaurant, he found someone already seated at the table he had reserved. Judging from the man's back, he seemed young.

Su Yu hesitantly walked over. When the man saw him arrive, he immediately stood up. However, he was so flustered that he accidentally bumped the table, making a rather loud noise that drew the attention of nearby diners. He hurriedly apologized several times.

The person before Su Yu had an immature-looking face and wore glasses. He looked refined and bookish, like a university student who had just graduated.

His expression was somewhat troubled at the moment, as though he were considering his wording. Finally, as if making up his mind, he asked, "Are you... The Landlord's Foolish Son?"

The moment he said that, even people passing by couldn't help glancing in their direction.

Su Yu said, "...You're the building materials wholesaler?"

The young man seemed uneasy because he was overly conscious of the passersby's stares. He shook his head and said, "Sorry, you've misunderstood. I'm not. I'm here on behalf of our boss."

Su Yu nodded thoughtfully. "I figured you weren't. You must be a university student who just graduated, right?"

The man looked quite surprised. "How did you know? Are you one too?"

Su Yu sat down and gestured for him to do the same. The man said, "Thank you."

"I guessed."

Because recent graduates had a clear sort of stupidity in their eyes. Saying thank you was a verbal habit, and apologizing was a basic skill.

That saying really did make some sense.

"I didn't just graduate. I graduated quite a while ago."

The young man looked Su Yu over and said, "I couldn't tell."

"Why didn't your boss come? What did he tell you when you came?"

As Su Yu spoke, he took out his phone and messaged their boss. It was far too insincere. How could he not come in person to discuss business?

"Our boss is very busy and didn't have time to come, so he asked me to negotiate with you." As though suddenly remembering something, he opened the briefcase beside him, took out a contract, and carefully handed it to Su Yu.

"Please take a look."

To show respect, Su Yu still flipped through the contract. Then he picked up his phone again and sent a message.

"You've finished reading already? Would you like to look over it more carefully?"

Su Yu said, "I'll look at it carefully in a moment."

[Su Yu: Are you serious? You're making me afraid to sign it.]

He had actually written it according to Su Yu's demands, making Su Yu feel as though he had picked up an enormous bargain. Su Yu reopened the contract and tried to find its loopholes.

[Aaa Building Materials Wholesale: Isn't this written according to your requirements?]

[Su Yu: Are you my long-lost biological uncle?]

At this point, even if someone told him that he was actually the child of a wealthy family, he would believe it. After all, in this absurd world, nothing was impossible. Him waking up in someone else's body was absurd enough, and even more absurd was the fact that he still couldn't control his own body.

[Su Yu: No? Are you my biological father, then?]

[Aaa Building Materials Wholesale: I don't have a son like you.]

The young man sitting across from him seemed somewhat restrained. Whenever Su Yu looked up at him, he reacted as though a teacher had called on him, immediately straightening his back.

"What's your boss's name? Where is your company located?"

"Our boss said that can't be disclosed."

Su Yu muttered, "Why be so mysterious?"

"Oh, right. Are you hungry? Our boss specifically told me to remember to order food for you."

"Then how old is your boss? You can at least tell me that, right?"

The young man thought back. "About... in his thirties?"

In his thirties?

He didn't know whether that meant just over thirty or well into his thirties. If it was the latter, then calling him Uncle definitely wasn't wrong.

"Then..."

Knowing he was about to ask more questions, the young man said frankly, "I can't say anything else. Please don't make things difficult for me. I'm very sorry."

"All right, then. I won't make things difficult for you. University student, it isn't easy to find a job."

The young man was deeply moved. "Thank you for understanding."

"However, I have one tiny question left. What does your boss look like? What's his personality like? Is he married? What kind of person does he like?"

The young man said, "..." Was that a tiny question? That was the kind of question that could cost him his job in seconds.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not asking for myself. I'm only asking so your boss can find a partner sooner. To be honest, I want to set him up with someone."

After saying that, Su Yu nodded as though affirming himself.