That's not quite right.
That's really not right.
Gu Chen felt that this was very strange, extremely strange, and he had never felt this way in the past seventeen years.
Could this be a soulmate?
Gu Chen was deep in thought.
[Author's note: Xiang Yu: Friendship is great.]
System: Outrageous, absolutely outrageous! Even sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams can't compare to your enduring friendship!
Chapter Twenty-Five: Xu Lin, My Childhood Friend
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Missed Opportunity: Xu Lin, My Childhood Friend
After returning to familiar surroundings, Xiangyu took an unusually long nap. When she woke up naturally, she groggily opened her eyes and sat up. It took her a while to realize that she was at home.
The room was pitch black, and the view outside the window was also dim. Accompanied by the chirping of insects, Xiangyu fumbled around the bed for his phone in the dark, but to no avail. He rubbed his heavy head, got out of bed in the dark, walked skillfully to the bedroom door, and opened it. The living room light was on, and the sizzling sound of oil cooking came from the kitchen, along with the aroma of stir-fried vegetables.
"Grandma, is it okay to cut these tomatoes into such small pieces?"
"Let me see. Hmm, okay, plate it and bring it over."
Hearing the sound, Xiang Yu glanced back at the bed in the light from outside, and sure enough, Gu Chen was nowhere to be seen.
Gu Chen was helping Grandma Hou in the kitchen when he heard the sound of slippers stepping on the floor behind him. He turned around and saw Xiang Yu walking into the kitchen.
"You're awake, deskmate."
"Hmm." Xiang Yu wasn't fully awake yet. She glanced at the familiar pink apron on the other person's body, reached into the cupboard above her head to look for a cup, and lifted her T-shirt to reveal half of her waist.
The lines are smooth, the muscles are firm, and most importantly, the skin is fair.
Gu Chen turned around and froze, not paying attention to his work. As he used the cleaver to shovel diced tomatoes, his index finger touched the blade: "Hiss—"
"Ouch, Xiao Chen, did you cut your hand?" Grandma Hou had cooked for most of her life and had seen all kinds of kitchen novices. She could tell what had happened just by the sound the other person made.
"Hey, it's just a small injury, nothing serious." Gu Chen rinsed the wound under the tap and glanced at it: "Such a small wound doesn't even need a band-aid, it'll heal on its own in a bit."
Xiang Yu couldn't find the cup, but when he saw Gu Chen grab it, he glanced at it and, seeing that it wasn't a big deal, opened another cupboard.
"Grandma, where did you put my cup?"
"Oh, Xiao Chen helped me take it out this afternoon, washed it, and put it on the table." Grandma Hou pointed to the dining table, and when she saw Gu Chen pick up the cleaver to chop vegetables again, she shooed him out, "Go away, go away, stop helping out in the kitchen, go watch TV and eat fruit."
“It’s okay, Grandma, it doesn’t hurt.” Gu Chen was stubborn in this regard, responding to Grandma Hou while chopping vegetables.
Xiang Yu went to the dining room to pour himself a glass of water and drank it. His eyes gradually cleared up, and he seemed to have sobered up. He didn't like watching TV, so he stood by the sink watching Gu Chen chop vegetables. After chopping tomatoes into cubes and scallions, he skillfully took out a pair of chopsticks and a white porcelain bowl from the bottom cabinet.
Gu Chen put the bowl and chopsticks on the cutting board and was about to go to the refrigerator to get five eggs when Xiang Yu handed him the eggs.
Gu Chen laughed and said, "Hey, my deskmate, we're on the same wavelength!"
They were even in sync. He had been eating his grandma's tomato and egg noodles since he was a child, and even if he couldn't cook, he would know what ingredients were missing. Xiang Yu took a sip of water and ignored him.
As for why there were five eggs: "Grandma, there were only five eggs left in the refrigerator, and we just used them all."
"Okay, I'll go to the market to buy it tomorrow morning."
Grandma Hou's tomato and gravy noodles are truly exceptional. She prepares the dough half an hour in advance, makes the noodles by hand with a chewy texture, and then pours on a rich and thick gravy. The scrambled eggs in the gravy are tender and smooth instead of overcooked. It's no exaggeration to say that the aroma of this bowl of noodles can be smelled from miles away.
"Holy crap, what smells so good?" Li Yifan was awakened from his sleep by the aroma of food. Following the scent, he found the kitchen. "Wow, Grandma, this is delicious!"
Grandma Hou laughed at his exaggerated expression: "It's delicious, have two more bowls later."
Li Yifan said, "Then I won't be polite."
Xiang Yu helped Gu Chen out by draining the noodles with a slotted spoon and ladling them into a plate. Gu Chen then added a few drops of sesame oil and mixed it to prevent the noodles from clumping together. Before the sauce was even poured on, Li Yifan, who was drooling, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and watched from the side.
A series of knocks came from the door. Grandma Hou was still busy at the stove. Everyone present was busy with something. Li Yifan put down his chopsticks and went over to open the door.
The door was an old-fashioned four-panel door. At noon, someone closed it. Li Yifan studied it for a long time and finally only opened the leftmost small door.
The person outside clearly hadn't expected that the small door on the left would be open. Standing in front of the main door in the middle and looking towards the small door, they saw a strange head peeking out.
"Um, I'm sorry." Li Yifan noticed that the person outside was a boy about his age, and his attitude immediately softened. "It's your first time doing this, so who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for Grandma Hou and Xiang Yu."
"Okay, then come in." Li Yifan stepped aside to let the other person in.
The courtyard was pitch black without the lights on, and he hadn't noticed it until the person came in, at which point he could finally take a look by the light.
The other person was estimated to be over 1.8 meters tall, wearing a white and red basketball jersey, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and tanned skin. His exposed arms were muscular, and he gave Li Yifan only two words.
A tough guy.
Which boy wouldn't want a strong physique like that?
"Holy crap, man, where did you get those muscles?"
"This?" The boy arched his arms, his biceps bulging and showing muscle definition: "Playing basketball, and going to the gym."
Xiang Yu heard a strangely familiar sound coming from the doorway, and since he had just finished his work, he went over to investigate.
"Xu Lin?"
"Haha, Yu'er." Xu Lin opened his arms and gave Xiang Yu a big hug.
Xiang Yu is not short, standing at 1.81 meters tall, but he appears petite next to Xu Lin. It's not that the other man is much taller than him, but rather that Xiang Yu's physique is clearly inadequate compared to Xu Lin's robust build.
Perhaps it was because the other person was too strong, but Xiang Yu felt a little breathless being held like this. She patted the other person's forearm, signaling him to let go: "Why are you here?"
“Guoqing, Yu’er, I was just waiting for you to come back.” Xu Lin let go of him, his face full of excitement. “I came here around noon, but the door was closed. Sigh, I’ve finally waited for you.”
I don't know why they were so excited to see him. Xiang Yu looked at Xu Lin and said, "They were all taking a nap back then."
"Xiao Yu, is that Da Linzi?" Grandma Hou recognized the voice.
Xiang Yu responded from the living room, and Xu Lin shouted in a loud voice, "Hey, Grandma Hou, I've come to see you again!"
"Nonsense! You're not here to see me, you're clearly here to see Xiaoyu!" The old lady had a loud voice and shouted over without any effort while cooking.
"Grandma, who is this?" Gu Chen asked while slicing potatoes.
"Dalinzi and Xiaoyu are childhood friends; they've had a great relationship since they were little."
"Really?" Gu Chen asked curiously, "I have to get to know my deskmate's good friend."
"Okay." Grandma Hou was happy as the younger generation gathered together: "Then you go out and get to know them. Leave the vegetables there, I'll chop them later. We'll eat after I finish cooking this dish."
Gu Chen said, "I've finished cutting it. I'm going out now. Grandma, just call me if you need anything."
After washing his hands, Gu Chen took a kitchen paper towel from the side to dry them. He went outside but didn't see the two of them. He asked Li Yifan, who was sitting in the living room watching TV, and learned that the two had gone out to chat.
Gu Chen said, "Hey, do we still have to go outside to chat?" After saying that, he went out and headed towards the courtyard.
Xiang Yu and Xu Lin were chatting by the flower bed they had built themselves, their voices softer than the chirping of insects, so it was hard to tell what they were saying.
It was dark outside, and Gu Chen thought it was good that he could even see the two of them. He walked down the steps and was about to greet them when he heard Xu Lin shout in a suppressed voice, "Don't give me that! I've asked everyone at the school, this is definitely not as simple as you say!"
[Author's Note: Gu Chen: Hey? Stop making noise!]
Chapter Twenty-Six: Gu Chen, I Have a Really Good Temper
Chapter Twenty-Six: Gu Chen: I Have a Really Good Temper
"Hey, what are you doing? Don't fight." Gu Chen ran over and separated the two of them, then looked at Xu Lin: "Childhood friends can talk things out, don't resort to violence."
Xu Lin, who had been holding back a lot of angry words, was choked up by the interruption and looked at Gu Chen, asking, "Who the hell wants to make a move? Who are you?"
“I’m his deskmate.” Gu Chen naturally put his arm around Xiang Yu.
"My deskmate?"
Xu Lin didn't react. He knew Xiang Yu's situation very well. Xiang Yu had been socially awkward since childhood and was not good at interacting with others. Even classmates whose homes were only a kilometer away from the school probably didn't know where Xiang Yu lived. Yet, after only half a month of transferring schools, he invited his deskmate, who had traveled two or three hours by long distance, to his home.
Desk mate? He wouldn't believe it even if you beat him to death.
Xu Lin sized up Gu Chen.
Gu Chen had no idea about this. He simply believed that his relationship with his deskmate was the best, so he stretched out his other hand to Xu Lin and smiled, "Gu Chen, what about you, my friend?"
"Xu Lin." His first impression of Gu Chen wasn't very good, so he simply didn't reach out.
Gu Chen didn't mind Bai Bai's attempt to be friendly, and he stopped and chuckled, "Grandma has probably already prepared the meal, let's eat together."
They completely treated this place as their own home.
Xu Lin glared at Gu Chen with displeasure.
Xiang Yu, on the other hand, hadn't said a word since earlier. After returning to the room, Gu Chen could tell that he was unhappy, but he didn't say anything this time either.
Grandma Hou guessed that Xu Lin would stay for dinner, so she added scallion pancakes to the dinner table that night. The pancakes were stacked five or six layers thick on a large round plate, which made Li Yifan very happy.
"Delicious!" After slurping up a plate of noodles, Li Yifan wiped the sauce off the plate with a flatbread, then rolled up some potato slices, braised meat, and bok choy in the flatbread and ate it, praising, "A delicacy!"
"Oh, as long as you're happy to eat." Grandma Hou is old and can't eat too much at night, otherwise it will be hard to digest. So, just like during the day, she sits at the table watching the younger generation eat, her face full of kindness: "You young people should eat more. Xiao Chen, don't just put food on Xiao Yu's plate, eat some yourself too."
Just as Grandma Hou finished speaking, Gu Chen had just placed a piece of braised meat into Xiang Yu's plate. Hearing this, he looked at her and smiled, "Okay."
"..." Xu Lin found Gu Chen's overly familiar manner irritating. Perhaps because of this, he didn't say much during the meal. Besides Li Yifan, he was the second person at the table to eat with his head down.
"Dalinzi is quiet during the meal today," Grandma Hou teased. "You weren't like this when you ate at Grandma's house before."
"No, I was just too hungry today and only focused on eating." Afraid that Grandma Hou would notice something was wrong, Xu Lin picked up another mouthful of noodles and slurped them up loudly.
His acting was incredibly exaggerated, but Grandma Hou just loved it and put a big piece of meat on his plate: "Eat more, didn't your parents take your grandparents on a trip? Why didn't you go with them?"
When Xiang Yu heard that Xu Lin's family had gone on a trip, he looked up at him. Xu Lin was sitting opposite him, and their eyes met. Xiang Yu's eyes lit up immediately, and he spoke with more confidence: "I'm just waiting for Yu'er. I didn't dare to go out with my parents because I was afraid of missing him when he came back for National Day!"
Grandma Hou exclaimed, "Dalinzi, you're so thoughtful!" Then she added, "Since no one's home these days, come to Grandma's for meals. I'm happy to have more people."
卩火示╳
"That's great!" Xu Lin exclaimed excitedly, staring at Xiang Yu. "I'm so bored at home all by myself. Why don't I just take a nap here?"
"Sigh, that probably won't work." This is the first time the family has run out of rooms to sleep in. Grandma Hou, who loves a lively atmosphere, laughed and said, "Yifan will sleep in the small room, and Xiaoyu and Xiaochen will sleep in the big room. There's no place for you to sleep."
"Huh?" Xu Lin was afraid he had misheard, so he asked again, "Grandma, who did you say? He sleeps with Yu'er?" He then pointed at Gu Chen to make sure that he was not talking about his cousin Li Yifan.
"It's me." Gu Chen glanced at Xu Lin's hand pointing at him, still smiling, "Sorry, friend, I was here first."