After making his demands, Gu Changheng felt a bit unreasonable himself. Fortunately, seeing Zhou Li’s serious response made his actions not seem too much like a joke.
Zhou Li followed Gu Changheng for a few steps and suddenly exclaimed, “Aiya!”
Gu Changheng looked back at him. “What’s wrong?”
Zhou Li didn’t answer right away but cautiously asked, “Are you still angry?”
“I’m not angry.”
Zhou Li felt that Gu Changheng was angry just a moment ago. Although he was still in the dark about what exactly had provoked him, he didn’t dare to ask further.
After looking more closely at Gu Changheng’s expression, he noticed that it seemed he really wasn’t angry anymore. Zhou Li then said, “Young Master Gu, can you wait for me here for a while? I forgot to pack up my stall.”
“Go ahead.”
“You, don’t leave!”
“I won’t.”
Zhou Li finally felt relieved. “I’ll be back quickly,” and dashed off toward his stall.
Worried that Gu Changheng would wait too long, Zhou Li sprinted at full speed.
There were two customers waiting for his grilled skewers. Zhou Li closed the stall directly and said, “Sorry, I’m not selling today. Please come back tomorrow.” As he spoke, he hurriedly packed up his things.
The girl selling cold noodles next to him approached and asked, “Why are you closing up so early today?”
Zhou Li glanced at her. Recalling his promise to Gu Changheng, he remained silent and sped up his actions.
“Is there something going on at home?” the girl continued to ask.
Zhou Li still didn’t respond. He shut off the grill, packed everything up, and then hopped on the skewer cart.
The girl raised her voice. “Hey, I’m talking to you. Why aren’t you talking to me?”
Zhou Li shot her a quick glance but didn’t reply. He rode away on his skewer cart, leaving the girl alone in confusion.
He quickly reached the spot where he had separated from Gu Changheng.
Seeing Gu Changheng still waiting there, Zhou Li felt a wave of joy. He hopped off his skewer cart and stood in front of Gu Changheng. “You didn’t wait long, did you?”
“Not too long.”
“That’s good.” Zhou Li laughed.
Gu Changheng walked on the side of the road, and Zhou Li slowly pushed the cart and followed him, talking to him as they walked along the roadside.
The two chatted casually. After about twenty minutes of walking, Gu Changheng’s legs began to feel weak. He asked Zhou Li, “How much farther to your place?”
“My place?” Zhou Li was taken aback. He slapped his forehead and said, “I was so busy talking to you and was so happy that you came to find me that I just kept walking in one direction, which is actually the opposite of where I live.”
Gu Changheng: …
Zhou Li hurriedly said, “Are you going to the place where I live? Are you tired? Why don’t you get in the cart?”
After a quick glance at his cart filled with skewers, he realized there was no room to sit. Zhou Li panicked and said, “No worries, you can sit on the crossbeam while I take you back. It’ll be faster that way.”
Gu Changheng looked at the small crossbeam. He had never sat on such a thing since he was a child. He felt a bit disdainful and resistant inside, but Zhou Li’s eyes were full of expectation, and he was indeed tired from walking.
“Okay.”
Zhou Li quickly took out a tissue to clean the beam of the cart, then Gu Changheng sat sideways on it. Zhou Li took the seat, pedaled with his legs, and turned around the cart on the road to go home.
In this position, Gu Changheng was almost wrapped in Zhou Li’s arms, surrounded by his scent.
Zhou Li hummed a little tune in a cheerful mood.
A warm breeze blew towards his face.
Perhaps he was provoked by the girl selling cold noodles tonight, Gu Changheng blurted out, “Hey, Zhou Li, how about we date?”
