Childhood Friends?

Su Tingbai's heart softened for a moment under that gaze, and he almost gave the chili back. But when his eyes landed on Shen Rui'an's pouty little lips, they seemed even more swollen—bright red, making him want to...

No!

Su Tingbai abruptly shook his head, stopping his wandering thoughts. What was he thinking?

Had he gone crazy?

Feeling a little guilty, Su Tingbai turned his face away.

When people felt awkward, they made themselves look busy.

Su Tingbai moved the dish of dried chili farther away, then somewhat flusteredly used tongs to place green pepper shrimp paste patties onto the grill.

A-Ming asked in confusion, "Boss, didn't you say shrimp paste should go on later when we barbecue? Weren't we supposed to grill the pork belly and beef first?"

There was still plenty of pork belly and beef grilling. Were they already using shrimp paste to cleanse their palates?

Was that really a thing? Shen Rui'an watched Su Tingbai bustling about in confusion.

The man wore a sleeveless black tank top, his broad back exposed and both arms bare. Whenever he moved his hands, his biceps flexed along with them. Just looking at him made Shen Rui'an feel safe.

The apron around his waist made it look even leaner and stronger.

Shen Rui'an's gaze was too scorching. Su Tingbai seemed to sense something and desperately wanted to turn around, but he held himself back. The veins on the hand gripping the tongs stood out. After a pause, he forced himself to remain calm. "Once in a while is fine. You haven't finished the barbecue yet, have you?"

A-Ming: "..."

Boss, I'd never seen you spoil us this much before.

A-Ming secretly glanced at Shen Rui'an behind Su Tingbai, then saw how obviously distracted Su Tingbai was and understood a little.

Pretending to photograph the ingredients, Meng Meng secretly snapped a picture of the two of them and sent it to Ya-ya, who was on leave. Sisters, you missed so much by not coming.

Ya-ya replied after seeing the picture Meng Meng sent: !!! A stunning beauty!

Ya-ya: Who's this stunning beauty? Is he our new coworker?! Answer me! This is very important to me!

Meng Meng: The boss's friend. He came over to recuperate.

Ya-ya: !!! Ahhh, I'm coming back tomorrow!

She wanted to see whether this stunning beauty truly looked as good as he did in the photo!

Su Tingbai didn't notice his team's little antics, but his attention wasn't on the food either. It was on the scorching gaze behind him.

Was Shen Xiaoyao staring at him the whole time?

Su Tingbai unconsciously straightened his back, every muscle in his back tensing. Compared with his earlier relaxed ease, he was much stiffer now.

Shen Rui'an admired Su Tingbai's back muscles for quite a while. It would be nice if he had muscles too.

Shen Rui'an couldn't help pinching the flesh on himself. Soft.

He didn't like working out, so all his flesh was soft. There wasn't much of it either; beneath that thin layer, he could quickly feel bone.

Shen Rui'an sighed. He wanted big muscles too!

But his body was too weak. The doctor had advised him against intense, strenuous exercise. Normally, it was enough to go out for a walk when he had nothing to do.

Following the doctor's advice, whenever he was feeling well enough, Shen Rui'an would take Baisui out for a lap on a leash, then head home.

Oh, Baisui was the little mutt he kept. During his recuperation in that village known for longevity, he had found him beside a grave. After asking around and finding that nobody wanted him, Shen Rui'an had kept him. He was a Chinese rural dog, yellow with a white face, not yet three months old and tiny as could be.

Thinking of that, Shen Rui'an checked his phone and saw that his older brother had sent him a video. Baisui was whimpering outside his bedroom door.

Brother: Xiao Bao, Baisui misses you.

Shen Rui'an missed Baisui a little too.

Shen Rui'an's mood sank, and even the pace at which he drank his milk tea slowed.

Su Tingbai happened to bring over the grilled green pepper shrimp paste patties. Seeing Shen Rui'an look distracted, his chest tightened. Was he unhappy because Su Tingbai wouldn't let him eat spicy food?

"What's wrong? Is it not good?" he asked softly in a lowered voice, afraid that speaking any louder would scare Shen Rui'an.

Su Tingbai didn't notice how affected his voice sounded. The three workers behind him suddenly got goosebumps. Had that sound really come from Su Tingbai?

The livestream continued. The camera showed only Su Tingbai's broad back beneath his apron. Shen Rui'an was completely blocked by him, with only a tiny glimpse of his body visible.

Under normal circumstances, Su Tingbai's broad shoulders, narrow waist, and impressive physique would already have the fans howling. But at the moment, the livestream viewers were focused on something else.

[?]

[What the hell? Why does Old Su's voice sound so affected?]

[Where's Brother Tingbai's ridiculously deep, magnetic voice? Who's this fake sweetie?]

[My ears are about to get pregnant.]

[Who goes there? I ask, who goes there?]

[Why did he suddenly start talking like that? Don't tell me he likes him?]

[I'm getting more and more curious about this new guest. Does anyone have any clues?]

[Haven't heard anything. @CuteGirlIsCute, Meng Meng, who's the new guest?]

CuteGirlIsCute was the operations manager and also helped moderate the livestream.

Meng Meng relayed Su Tingbai's words to the viewers, though she blurred the details related to Shen Rui'an. Everyone only learned that his surname was Shen, his family was well-off, and his family lived next door to Su Tingbai's.

The viewers got it.

[So they're childhood friends?]

[Old Su's childhood friend?]

[Childhood-friends romance? I ship it.]

[I've never seen Su Tingbai act this sweet before. Not with anyone else, not even Boss Xing. Why did he start acting like this the second Young Master Shen showed up?]

[Could Su Tingbai secretly have a crush on him?]

The viewers' imaginations ran wild, and the more they talked, the more excited they became. This, however, made some fans who had come for Su Tingbai's looks push back.

At first, Su Tingbai never showed his face in videos. But he had been a soldier, and after leaving the military, he had never neglected his training. He had an excellent physique, no worse than the male thirst-trap influencers on Douyin. His build was even so dominant that people jokingly called him the ultimate top.

On top of that, his fashion style was very rough and masculine. In summer, he basically loved wearing tank tops and other revealing clothes. When filming videos, he never hesitated to show off the marks of his training—his explosive physique and vein-lined arms had drawn in quite a few thirsty old perverts.

There were also plenty of fans who fantasized about dating him, both women and men.

Even more so after Su Tingbai showed his face. Some fans knew they had no chance with him, but they couldn't help their possessiveness. They were hostile toward anyone who seemed remotely ambiguous with Su Tingbai.

Now that this childhood-friends romance angle had appeared, hadn't it struck right at some people's sore spots?

[Haha, can you stop flattering yourselves? Brother Su hasn't even said anything, but you're already making assumptions?]

[Brother Tingbai hasn't made anything official. I advise everyone not to stir things up, okay?]

[Ship, ship, ship. You ship people just for having a normal conversation? Are your brains wired only for romance?]

[I seriously don't get what there is to ship. Aren't they just ordinary friends? I can't see the appeal at all.]

[It's pretty shippable. I've followed Su Tingbai for so long, and this is the first time I've seen him be so gentle with someone. It feels different.]

[+1, honestly, that voice really did sound affected.]

[I think so too...]

[This is hilarious. You don't even know what that Young Master Shen looks like, and you're already shipping them? If he's ugly, I don't believe you'll still ship it!]

[My Brother Su has been single forever. Can some people stop making up rumors?]

[So funny. The people involved haven't said anything, so why are you fans getting so worked up?]

Everyone throwing tantrums had fan badges, making their affiliations easy to see.

The ones arguing against it all happened to be wearing Su Tingbai's fan badges.

Meng Meng looked away for one second and discovered the livestream had started arguing. She hurriedly stepped in to keep things under control.