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The villa had an open kitchen. Fu Yuhe headed over to wash his hands and get a glass of water. As soon as he approached, he caught an appetizing aroma. At first, he thought he was imagining it, but when he went in, he found several dishes on the kitchen table.

Fu Cheng couldn't make food like that.

Had he ordered from some private kitchen?

He washed his hands and went back out, then picked up the cake knife and cut a slice. The cake was simple and not too sweet. He didn't much like creamy things, but he ate a few bites out of courtesy.

"Brother, are you hungry? There's food in the kitchen," Fu Cheng said as he ate his cake beside him.

He seemed fine otherwise, but after meeting Fu Yuhe's eyes when he came in, he had refused to look at him again. Even now, he kept his head down, still awkward after their last argument.

"Mm." Fu Yuhe asked, "Have you eaten... have you two eaten?"

"No," Fu Cheng said.

Fu Yuhe said, "Let's eat together."

Fu Cheng said, "Oh-I'll bring it out. The rice is still hot."

Shen Yi could see the slightly strained atmosphere between Fu Yuhe and Fu Cheng. He had watched their back-and-forth from the side with his chin in his hand, but now he got up to help.

Fu Yuhe got up too. The three of them brought the dishes out, took three bowls and filled them with rice, then sat down at the table, exchanging very few words.

Shen Yi went to the fridge for beer and drinks. He set a bottle by Fu Cheng, then turned to Fu Yuhe. "Brother, you had a little alcohol tonight, right? You'd better not drink any more now."

Following Fu Cheng's lead, he called him "brother," lending the address a note of intimacy. Then Fu Yuhe watched as Shen Yi set a bottle of... milk beside him.

"Drink some milk. It'll make your stomach feel better," Shen Yi said.

Fu Yuhe turned his head.

Was he concerned about me? That's not really Shen Yi's style.

Shen Yi said, "Brother?"

Fu Yuhe remained silent, several thoughts crossing his mind.

Shen Yi just smiled at him. Fu Yuhe lowered his eyes and gave a noncommittal "mm."

Fu Cheng quietly opened his beer and took a sip.

A crisp clink sounded as Shen Yi tapped his beer can against Fu Cheng's.

The three ate in relative harmony. Suddenly, Fu Cheng asked, "Brother, is it good?"

Fu Yuhe said, "Not bad. Which restaurant is it from?"

Coming from Fu Yuhe, that was already high praise.

Fu Cheng said, "Shen Yi made it."

Fu Yuhe said, "..."

He raised his eyes to look at Fu Cheng, who stubbornly met his gaze.

He could tell Fu Cheng had deliberately waited until he was halfway through the meal to ask, probably because he was still upset about Fu Yuhe speaking "badly" of Shen Yi before. Fu Cheng was beginning to show a bit of Shen Yi's mean streak. Sure enough, keep company with the wicked, and you turn wicked.

Undercurrents stirred in the air.

Shen Yi picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. The fish had few bones, and they had mostly been picked out. It had been stewed until it melted in the mouth. He said, "Why did you stop eating? I put my heart into making this whole meal. If you don't enjoy it properly, how could you face the fish that gave its life?"

Fu Yuhe nearly cracked.

The strange atmosphere dissipated, as though a fully inflated bubble had been popped. Fu Yuhe and Fu Cheng continued eating.

After dinner, Shen Yi didn't leave. It was getting late, and this time Fu Yuhe didn't object to Shen Yi staying over. He simply said, "Get some rest early."

Fu Yuhe returned to his bedroom, where the gift from Fu Cheng sat on the coffee table. He opened it and found a tie inside. Suddenly, he remembered something. He pulled out his phone and found a photo his assistant had sent him earlier.

In the photo, Fu Cheng was holding a tie against Shen Yi's collar to try out the pattern. It was the same tie.

The Fu family villa was large, with plenty of empty rooms. Although Fu Cheng didn't mind sharing a bed with Shen Yi, Shen Yi still slept in a guest room to keep Fu Yuhe from bristling-the real reason was that he slept better with a whole bed to himself.

But today, when Fu Cheng suggested sleeping together, Fu Yuhe hadn't seemed to react much. Had he drunk too much and become slower to react than usual?

The curtains in the room hadn't been drawn. Moonlight streamed through the window, casting light and shadows on the floor. Shen Yi showered and lay down on the bed. After a long while, he turned over and got up. Without turning on the light, he walked over to the sofa by moonlight, took a box out of his backpack, and fiddled with it for quite some time.

He placed it by the bed and switched it on.

A lifelike starry sky appeared across the ceiling. Shen Yi lay on the bed, the bedding sinking beneath him. The young man stretched out his long arms and legs and narrowed his eyes at the ceiling.

A gift... should I give it to him?

Fu Yuhe was special. He could give Shen Yi a feeling no one else could, so to Shen Yi, he was special not merely because he was the protagonist, but because of who he was.

He was special enough that Shen Yi had eagerly prepared a gift for him, but after it arrived, Shen Yi didn't know why he hadn't given it to him right away.

He was hesitating, and he didn't know why. He only felt that the gift wasn't quite suitable.

In the original plot, rather than focusing on Fu Yuhe's ending, the aim was to convey the theme of the protagonist being "lonely at the top." So everyone around him would leave, and he would be left all alone, successful in business but not quite so fortunate in life.

But from the moment Shen Yi saw Fu Yuhe, Fu Yuhe was no longer just words on a page. His past experiences had slowly shaped him into the man he was now. He was a person who truly existed.

Shen Yi had never seen his ruthless, decisive methods firsthand, but he could sense how extraordinary he was from the aura of a powerhouse he exuded.

Shen Yi couldn't help wondering, Is that aura of a powerhouse what's attracting me?

Could it be... that my awakened self-awareness has a hidden attribute that makes me admire the strong?

Shen Yi grew thoughtful.