Thoughts

When Cen Xia first heard that, he thought Shi Su must have suffered some grievance at school and started doubting himself because of it.

He quickly reached out and patted his head, encouraging him. "Of course you're good. Who said you weren't?"

Shi Su knew he had misunderstood, but he didn't want to correct him.

Let Brother Cen feel sorry for me...

He buried his face against Cen Xia's neck. Just then, the car emerged from the tunnel, and the gloom vanished as light streamed in.

Seeing him keep his head down without a word, Cen Xia hooked a finger under his chin and lifted his face.

Shi Su's eyes were a little red.

Cen Xia sighed. He didn't really know how to comfort people, so in the end, he could only awkwardly pat his head again, as if petting a puppy.

An older girl he'd known at the welfare home used to comfort him like that. Though she always took half the candy he'd been given afterward, Cen Xia had still liked it.

Shi Su felt the gentle caress on his head, and the heaviness in his heart slowly melted away.

He tilted his face up, resting his chin in Cen Xia's palm, and stared straight at him.

This time, Cen Xia really did see him as a puppy, and his fingers itched to scratch his chin.

I could get a dog if I have the chance.

With that thought, Cen Xia's mood brightened, and he gently patted Shi Su's cheek.

"Don't think too much about it. What outsiders think isn't worth a thing."

Shi Su didn't take Cen Xia to a fancy restaurant. Instead, he took him to one he'd eaten at all his life, even though he believed their first date had to be perfect.

Yes, no matter what Cen Xia thought, in Shi Su's mind, this was their first date.

Once they entered the private room he'd reserved, Cen Xia said, "Why did you book a private room? We could have eaten in the dining hall downstairs."

Shi Su had his own considerations. He didn't want anyone disturbing such a precious first date with Brother Cen.

At an old restaurant like this, the menus were handwritten. Unlike those fancy private kitchens putting on airs, these had genuinely been in use for years. The regulars were used to them, so the restaurant couldn't be bothered to replace them.

Shi Su gave Cen Xia the menu and told him to choose for himself. Faced with dish names packed tightly onto both sides, Cen Xia was at a loss. After looking for quite a while, he pushed the menu back.

"You do it. Order whatever you think tastes good."

Shi Su agreed and picked up the menu, carefully marking their choices. With a little self-interest, he asked Cen Xia what he liked.

Cen Xia said, "I don't have any dietary restrictions. If it can go in a pot, I'll eat it."

That was mostly because, when he was little and living at the orphanage, the cafeteria didn't care whether you were a picky eater or whether you liked the food. If you didn't eat, you could go hungry. There were so many children, after all, and nobody had the extra time or patience to coax anyone into finishing a meal.

Shi Su paused and asked, "What do you like best, Brother Cen? Sweet food? Spicy food? Or do you prefer something mild?"

Having no dietary restrictions didn't mean he had no preferences.

Cen Xia had never really given that question much thought. When he was on his own, he made do with whatever he could, and when he ate out with friends, the questions usually ended with the previous one.

He thought for a moment and said, "Spicy, I guess."

Shi Su ordered according to his tastes, then handed him the menu to look over.

"Is this okay?"

Cen Xia glanced at it. There were both meat and vegetable dishes, so he nodded. "It's fine."

While they waited for the food, Shi Su talked about his childhood.

"When I was in elementary school, my parents were always busy. Every time, they'd show up at a leisurely pace only after the school gates had closed. This restaurant was close to the school, so my mom asked the owner if I could stay here for a while after school. She offered to pay, but the owner refused and said I could stay as long as I wanted."

"After that, every day after school, the owner would set up a little table for me to do my homework. Once I finished, she'd reward me with something to eat. Sometimes it was spareribs with preserved plums, sometimes fried fish. It all depended on what was left in the kitchen that day."

As he spoke, a nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

"The owner retired last year, and her daughter runs the place now. But the food still tastes the same."

Cen Xia said with heartfelt admiration, "The owner was really kind. No wonder this place has stayed open all these years."

Shi Su looked up at Cen Xia across from him, his gaze gentle. He had an ulterior motive for bringing Brother Cen here today.

He wanted Brother Cen to see his life and his past.

As though that would create a deeper bond between them.

The two of them had ordered a whole table of dishes, but they were both still growing, so it didn't seem like too much.

Cen Xia nodded as he ate. Although the two of them had come out to eat without telling Ding Yiheng, he wasn't heartless. "Next time, let's bring Ding Yiheng and Fang Sheng here to try it."

Shi Su, who had wanted nothing more than to have this place to himself and Cen Xia, said, "...Okay."

But he quietly made up his mind: there were so many restaurants that, when the time came, he would take those two somewhere else.

As they ate, messages kept coming in their four-person group chat.

Ever since arriving at the banquet, Fang Sheng had been updating his text vlog.

[I'm at the banquet. I heard this is the president's family's old residence. It's so grand!]

He attached a photo showing a magnificent redwood building with two stone lions at the entrance. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was a prince's residence.

[So many people~ So many I've only ever seen on TV~]

[The president's family is so rich! Even the plates are antiques. I really want to sneak one away~]

[I saw the president, but I didn't dare take a picture.]

[Holy crap, I actually saw the real crown prince...]

Ding Yiheng asked curiously: [Which one? What age are we living in? There are still crown princes?]

Fang Sheng: [Wen Ci's older brother.]

Ding Yiheng: [...He really is a crown prince.]

At school, calling Wen Ci the crown prince was just for fun, but his older brother's title was the real deal.

He had started at the grassroots level right after graduation and worked his way up steadily, one step at a time, to a division chief position. His political record was so impressive that no one could find fault with it. At first, claims that he had pulled strings were running rampant, but in the end, Wen Xingzhou used his own ability to make them lay down their banners and silence their drums.

Everyone said that, perhaps, he really could take over from that person someday.

When Cen Xia saw that message, the stone that had been hanging over his heart finally fell. He had been worried that this part of the plot would fall apart, but seeing that Wen Xingzhou was there too put him at ease.

Even if the plot couldn't continue, at least all the key figures were present.

Fang Sheng: [Why hasn't the banquet started yet? I'm getting hungry.]

Ding Yiheng sent a photo of himself eating.

[At home. My mom stewed some ribs for me, hehe~]

Fang Sheng sent a string of ellipses.

Cen Xia sent a string as well, as proof that he was busy with something.

Seeing Cen Xia send one, Shi Su followed suit.

Ding Yiheng: [Jealous, aren't you? Hehe~]

Shi Su thought that he certainly wasn't jealous.

Fang Sheng: [He's coming out! The second son everyone's been waiting for!]

Ding Yiheng: [Let me see, let me see!]

After that message, the group chat went quiet for more than ten minutes.

Then Fang Sheng appeared and sent a whole string of exclamation marks!

[Something seems to have happened!!]

Cen Xia's heart gave a violent jump. [What happened?]

[The second son didn't come out. The He Family said the old master wasn't feeling well and we'd have to wait a little longer...]

Ding Yiheng: [It's understandable if an old man isn't feeling well. How does that count as something happening?]

Fang Sheng didn't know how to tell them. He had just gone to the bathroom and overheard the He Family's butler say that the second young master was missing...