Chapter 14

The restaurant was crowded. Their table was square, with two people seated on each side, and Shu Baiyu sat beside Lu Xingzhou.

Shu Baiyu had not forgotten that he had originally invited Lu Xingzhou to this meal to apologize and, at the same time, grow closer to him.

Only a few minutes after all the dishes arrived, his eyes quietly shifted toward the person beside him.

Before he could observe Lu Xingzhou’s expression, however, he heard movement from Tao Xi and Qi Yan.

When he looked up, he saw Tao Xi placing food into Qi Yan’s bowl while reminding him:

“Qi Yan, eat more. I haven’t even seen you touch your chopsticks.”

“You’re still exactly the same as when we were children.”

Qi Yan’s mood improved slightly as he remembered the days they had spent playing together when they were young.

Tao Xi was still just as fond of worrying about others.

With that thought, and considering that Tao Xi was an old childhood friend who had finally returned to the country, Qi Yan also served him some food.

“You’re the one who should eat more.”

The atmosphere between them was harmonious.

Shu Baiyu observed them for a long time and felt gratified by this hard-won, heartwarming progression in their romance.

Unfortunately, he had barely relaxed when Tao Xi noticed him and Lu Xingzhou watching.

Seeing that both of them were looking in his direction, Tao Xi paused. Confusion appeared in his eyes, and he seemed about to tentatively serve them food as well.

The moment Shu Baiyu saw Tao Xi’s gaze land on Lu Xingzhou, his vigilance instantly rose.

Realizing Tao Xi’s intention, he abruptly stretched out his chopsticks first.

However, instead of placing stolen contentthe food into Lu Xingzhou’s bowl, he changed direction halfway and put it onto his own plate.

During that brief second, he had considered something.

Lu Xingzhou was not the kind of person who would accept food served by someone else.

If Shu Baiyu truly tried it, Lu Xingzhou would certainly reject him without sparing his dignity.

Then Tao Xi would witness the two of them “getting along badly,” which might undermine the foundation Shu Baiyu had worked so hard to establish.

Therefore, after serving himself, Shu Baiyu merely imitated Tao Xi and turned toward Lu Xingzhou before Tao Xi could do anything.

“Eat more.”

Lu Xingzhou was caught off guard by the reminder.

His gaze deepened slightly as he turned toward Shu Baiyu.

However, after saying those words, Shu ​read the original at bailiantales.com​Baiyu merely gave him another small nod and turned back around.

There was nothing more.

Lu Xingzhou’s hand, which had been preparing to push his bowl slightly closer, paused.

He raised his gaze and stared directly at Shu Baiyu.

Shu Baiyu sensed his stare.

He assumed Lu Xingzhou merely disliked him displaying intimacy with someone else in front of Tao Xi, so he lowered his head and silently continued eating, hoping Lu Xingzhou would recognize his position.

He was only a cannon-fodder Alpha.

Coveting the protagonist Omega would never end well.

Even if Lu Xingzhou glared at him like this, Shu Baiyu would continue doing the same thing.

However, after quite some time, that gaze still had not disappeared.

It remained blatant and impossible to ignore.

When Shu Baiyu glanced sideways, he even saw Lu Xingzhou frowning.

Qi Yan sat diagonally across from him.

After instinctively responding to Tao Xi earlier, he had noticed what was happening on their side of the table.

He saw Shu Baiyu lower his head after watching him and Tao Xi serve each other food.

Shu Baiyu’s long bangs fell with the movement, as though concealing his discomfort.

Qi Yan’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

His gaze instinctively wanted to move toward Shu Baiyu.

However, the moment he considered that Shu Baiyu might begin pestering [stolen content]him again, his eyes paused and he withdrew his gaze.

In reality, Shu Baiyu felt as though Lu Xingzhou’s stare was burning into his back.

He had deliberately pretended not to notice at first, but Lu Xingzhou’s presence was too difficult to ignore.

After waiting a while and realizing that the other man had no intention of restraining himself, Shu Baiyu finally turned toward him.

“…What is it?”

Lu Xingzhou quietly watched him.

His gaze was not as cold as Shu Baiyu had expected. His voice was faint, yet unusually mild.

“Was the food you just took good?”

Shu Baiyu stiffened and looked at him strangely.

After a long while, he genuinely nodded.

“Mm.”

Lu Xingzhou’s expression did not change.

“Then eat more.”

Shu Baiyu’s gaze became even more indescribable.

He looked at Lu Xingzhou warily until he noticed the other man staring at his bowl.

His body paused.

He raised his head and asked:

“Do you want some?”

“No.” Lu Xingzhou’s face showed no trace of anything unusual. “You don’t need to serve me.”

Shu Baiyu remained seated.

Gradually, he moved his chopsticks and tentatively placed some food into Lu Xingzhou’s bowl.

In the next instant, the impossible-to-ignore stare finally vanished.

When Shu Baiyu looked up, he saw Lu Xingzhou lowering his eyelids.

“So you know I don’t eat scallions.”

Shu Baiyu’s eyelid twitched.

Noticing the pieces of scallion in Lu Xingzhou’s bowl, he silently raised his chopsticks and removed them for him.

Then he looked directly at Lu Xingzhou again.

His brows drew together almost imperceptibly.

Lu Xingzhou was ordering him around like a subordinate again.

Only then did Lu Xingzhou finally appear satisfied.

His voice remained calm, but his movements were clearly purposeful as he also served Shu Baiyu some food.

Afterward, Shu Baiyu felt Lu Xingzhou’s gaze sweep over his waist.

His words seemed to contain a trace of sincerity.

“You’re too thin.”

After a pause, he added:

“You don’t feel good to hold.”

Shu Baiyu froze.

Then his eyelids abruptly lifted, and his black eyes widened into perfect circles.

“?”

The reactions of the two people opposite them were also considerable.

Tao Xi choked first. His entire face then turned red. Whether it was from coughing or something else, he hurriedly stopped and drank water.

Qi Yan abruptly froze beside him.

The person responsible, however, remained perfectly composed, as though Shu Baiyu was the one overthinking the implication behind his words.

Yet when Shu Baiyu reconsidered it, he remembered the physical contact he had previously shared with Lu Xingzhou.

Perhaps Lu Xingzhou had merely been stating a fact.

Tao Xi showed nothing on his face, but he had secretly watched the entire interaction.

After drinking enough water to stop coughing, the heat on his face still had not faded.

His fingertips tightened around the glass.

He glanced uncertainly at Shu Baiyu and struggled for a long time before finally saying:

“Um… Baiyu, I want to speak privately with Brother Lu for a moment…”

Shu Baiyu raised his eyes and looked at him strangely.

“Why are you asking me?”

Tao Xi fidgeted.

“You two… You’re together, so I thought I should ask you first.”

A question mark appeared on Shu Baiyu’s face.

Only after hearing this did he slowly realize that, in the protagonist Omega’s eyes, he and Lu Xingzhou were an engaged couple with an excellent relationship.

Lu Xingzhou naturally heard Tao Xi’s words.

He did not appear particularly concerned and asked calmly:

“What do you want to say?”

“Well…” Tao Xi replied cautiously. “It needs to be private.”

Lu Xingzhou nodded without showing any reaction.

Shu Baiyu, however, suddenly realized what was happening.

The protagonist Omega wanted to be alone with the cannon-fodder Alpha?

An alarm immediately blared inside his mind.

He directly called out to stop them.

“Wait!”

Tao Xi turned around.

“What’s wrong?”

Without thinking, Shu Baiyu said:

“I’m coming with you.”

Tao Xi looked surprised.

He was about to explain that it might not be very convenient when Lu Xingzhou also turned around.

He glanced at Shu Baiyu, who had spoken so abruptly, and his words seemed to carry another emotion.

“I’ll come back after we finish talking.”

After several seconds, he added a reminder:

“Don’t keep watching me all the time.”

Even if Lu Xingzhou understood that Shu Baiyu merely liked him, Shu Baiyu still could not remain glued to his side at every moment, guarding him from every supposedly “dangerous” person outside.

Shu Baiyu fell silent.

A trace of nearly imperceptible astonishment appeared on his usually expressionless face.

Had Lu Xingzhou realized that Shu Baiyu was “monitoring” him?

Seeing that he had indeed stopped objecting, Lu Xingzhou resumed walking.

He said to Tao Xi beside him:

“Let’s go.”

Their figures gradually disappeared from sight.

Shu Baiyu returned to his seat.

His eyelids were lowered, and his bangs covered his eyes, nearly concealing half his face.

His brows were tightly furrowed, and he unconsciously bit his lip repeatedly.

Had Lu Xingzhou noticed?

Otherwise, why would he say something like that?

No, that was wrong.

He probably had not.

If Lu Xingzhou knew Shu Baiyu’s true purpose, then based on his personality in the original novel, he would never dismiss it with such a casual remark.

At the very least, he would pretend not to have noticed and cooperate with Shu Baiyu’s “surveillance,” while secretly placing Shu Baiyu under his own observation, before eventually turning the situation against him.

In any case, he could not possibly have reacted as he just had.

After silently thinking through everything, Shu Baiyu relaxed slightly.

Even so, he became more vigilant.

It seemed he could not behave too obviously.

The four of them had nearly finished eating by now.

Only Shu Baiyu and Qi Yan remained at the square table.

While Shu Baiyu lowered his head and rapidly analyzed the situation, he paid no attention to Qi Yan.

Therefore, he failed to notice that the other man had already been watching him for quite some time.

Shu Baiyu’s thoughts were still wandering as he considered adding something to his plan later when Qi Yan suddenly spoke.

His tone was somewhat heavy, and the gaze directed toward Shu Baiyu contained faintly complicated emotions.

“Does he treat you badly?”

Shu Baiyu had no desire to analyze this contextless question.

He glanced at Qi Yan before falling into thought again.

Qi Yan clearly misinterpreted his reaction.

His jaw tightened considerably.

Within their social circle, it was common for people to become engaged early.

Although such arrangements were described as romantic stories, most were actually disguised business marriages, intended to strengthen ties between families or bring them closer for future cooperation.

They merely had more pleasant names.

After discovering that Shu Baiyu was engaged, Qi Yan had begun looking into the rumors concerning him and Lu Xingzhou.

He later heard that neither of them had any feelings for the other.

They supposedly disliked each other and strongly opposed the engagement.

Then why had they appeared so intimate today?

As expected, Lu Xingzhou was also the kind of person who maintained appearances in public.

Qi Yan unconsciously began considering Shu Baiyu’s situation.

Eventually, he said:

“If he treats you badly, you can tell me. I…”

However, his throat tightened at the final words.

He did not know how to continue.

After all, he and Shu Baiyu had already broken up.

There was no relationship between them anymore.

After a long silence, he ultimately withdrew the rest of his sentence.

Seeing Qi Yan hesitate, Shu Baiyu finally returned his attention to him.

“You what?”

Qi Yan had already looked away.

He understood that he should not interfere in something that was none of his business.

Shu Baiyu had finally appeared to give up pestering him.

Why would Qi Yan deliberately invite more trouble for himself?

He shook his head and said heavily:

“It’s nothing.”

Shu Baiyu had no desire to press him further.

Only then did his chaotic thoughts fully settle.

Once calm, however, he remembered his original purpose.

The instant he realized it, Shu Baiyu abruptly turned toward the window.

Sure enough, he saw the person who, according to the original novel, was supposed to accidentally photograph the protagonist Alpha and Omega.

Unfortunately, the photographer had already disappeared into the crowd on the street.

The camera hanging from his shoulder bounced with every step.

Staring at this scene, Shu Baiyu could not describe what he felt.

He turned back with a genuinely expressionless face, suddenly glanced at Qi Yan, and lowered his eyes again.

Honestly.

There was a curse he did not know whether he should say.

Just like that, the catalyst meant to advance the protagonists’ relationship was gone.