The Samoyed is a breed of dog that is very close to humans, so when he saw his Little Pudding grinning at the uninvited guest, Lu Chenghe didn’t pay much attention. But now, seeing Little Pudding baring its teeth, Lu Chenghe thought this clumsy, rough guy had hurt Little Pudding. He hurriedly went over, pushed the guy away, and gently picked up Little Pudding from the car, placing it on the ground.
The moment Zuo Ning’s feet touched the ground, he immediately lunged at Lu Chenghe. He had to make this man realize just how much Lu Chenghe loved him and drive away any thoughts of taking him away!
As long as he was home, Little Pudding would be especially clingy to him. When he saw Little Pudding’s movements, it was only natural for him to pick it up. He couldn’t help but glance at his brother, Lu Chenghan, who was blinking repeatedly. The image of his second brother holding a pet was just too awkward, almost surreal. But as he looked on, there was a strange sense of harmony. Was it true that handsome people just looked good in anything?
But the dog’s glance, almost unintentionally, seemed a bit intriguing: “Second brother, your dog just looked at me with pride and disdain!” He really didn’t understand how he could interpret such a complicated expression from a dog’s eyes.
Lu Chenghe didn’t even bother to look at him, sarcastically replying, “Even the dog looks down on you. What use are you, then?”
Lu Chenghan rolled his eyes. In his mind, it was clear that the dog was now Lu Chenghe’s beloved, so of course, it was perfect in every way. He grumbled a bit internally, then tossed the car keys to a nearby maid and confidently followed Lu Chenghe inside. The butler smiled and stepped forward, “Fourth Young Master, the usual red tea?”
Lu Chenghan casually leaned against the couch, hugged a pillow, and smiled at the butler, nodding. “Yes, yes. And also, I’ll have a chestnut cake. One for now, and one for later. I’m going to bring it to a friend’s birthday. Our chestnut cake is the best. They look forward to it every year for their birthday.”
The butler, who had watched the young masters grow up, smiled kindly and turned to oversee things in the kitchen.
Lu Chenghe shot him a cold glance. “This isn’t a hotel.” Then, his eyes swept over the object he was holding in his arms. “That’s Little Pudding’s cushion, not a pillow.”
Lu Chenghan rolled his eyes, “Second brother, am I not even better than the dog in your arms? If you hadn’t been poaching someone’s corner, I’d have gone straight to Big Brother for something to eat!”
Zuo Ning immediately sat up and faced Lu Chenghan: “Awooo!” It had to be that way!
Lu Chenghan burst into laughter. “Look at your dog, so petty. Took a cushion and is still barking at me. Come on, come on, here’s your cushion back.” He placed the cushion next to his leg and even patted it in front of Little Pudding.
Zuo Ning fought the urge to roll his eyes. He stopped barking and found a comfortable position in Lu Chenghe’s arms, then lay still.
Seeing that the dog wasn’t responding to him, Lu Chenghan, in a mischievous mood, reached out to poke it. But before his hand could touch the dog, it was swatted away by his second brother. He rubbed his hand, about to act aggrieved. When he saw the look in his second brother’s eyes, he quickly grinned sheepishly. “Alright, alright, I won’t tease. But second brother, I have big news from home!”
Though Lu Chenghan’s reaction seemed exaggerated, Lu Chenghe wasn’t moved. If something big had truly happened at home, it wouldn’t be up to this guy to notify him.
Seeing that his second brother didn’t believe him, Lu Chenghan leaned in closer, his expression a little mischievous. “Do you know? Big Brother has a partner now!” After seeing that Lu Chenghe didn’t show any surprise, Lu Chenghan immediately followed up, “And Big Brother’s partner is a man!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Chenghe finally turned his gaze toward Lu Chenghan. Even Zuo Ning, who was lying in Lu Chenghe’s arms, raised his head curiously to look at him. Was this the beginning of a grand family coming-out drama? Wow, it seemed like this was actually big news!
Lu Chenghe knew that although this kid seemed somewhat unreliable, he wasn’t the type to speak nonsense. However, the news did surprise him a bit, so he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on?”
Lu Chenghan looked a little pleased. His second brother was usually the one everyone admired and the one who knew everything. But now, he was the one with the insider information, which naturally made Lu Chenghan feel proud. He quickly shared his discovery.
As previously mentioned, the Lu family was considered unique in the upper echelons, not competitive or prone to scandals. This was because, although the Lu family was a large conglomerate, the various sectors within it were distinctly divided.
Lu Chenghe’s grandfather had five brothers, but two of them inherited the scholarly spirit of their ancestors and were not suited for business. One spent his life in the military and never married, so he left no descendants. Another passed away at a young age. In the end, the youngest brother, Lu Chenghe’s grandfather, inherited the family business.
His grandfather had three sons. When it came time to divide the inheritance, the industries were neatly divided into three parts, allowing each son to inherit what he was interested in. So, the eldest son took over the food & beverage business, Lu Chenghe’s father inherited the hotel business, and Lu Chenghan’s father took over the cosmetics industry.
With a century of family legacy and an ability to seize opportunities, the Lu family had already entered the top 500 companies worldwide and was the first Asian group to make it into the top 100.
When the sons were capable of managing their own affairs, the men of the Lu family began delegating power. If not for the sudden accident that befell Lu Chenghe’s father, he would probably be traveling around the world with his wife, just like his two brothers.
Lu Chenghe’s generation also had three sons. The eldest and second families each had one son, while the third uncle had both a son and a daughter. Though Lu Chenghan appeared unreliable, he had an even more unreliable father. As a result, like his two brothers, he had taken on the responsibility of supporting the family early on.
But compared to his diligent older brother and the naturally business-minded second brother, Lu Chenghan appeared a bit more carefree. This time, as a big boss himself, he wanted to celebrate a childhood friend’s birthday in grand style. However, the only Michelin three-star restaurant in the area had reservations fully booked until next year. Even with the family’s own business, it wasn’t easy to book a venue for a party, so he had no choice but to go to his older brother.
Lu Chenghan felt a bit aggrieved about this situation. Out of the three brothers, he was probably the most reckless. If it were his second brother, one phone call would’ve solved the problem. However, his older brother wouldn’t cooperate, so he had to go to him in person.
Just a couple of days ago, phone calls weren’t working, so he directly barged into his older brother’s office. As luck would have it, his older brother was in a meeting at the time, so he had to wait in a small room, lying down and playing games. He must have fallen asleep at some point because he suddenly woke up to the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. When he opened the door, he saw his usually well-dressed older brother pinning a man down on the desk, kissing him.
His world was shattered in that instant as if everything was collapsing around him.
He didn’t know if the secretary hadn’t had time to inform his older brother of his arrival or if his older brother hadn’t expected this awkward scene to be caught, but for a brief second, all three of them stared at each other as if the entire room had frozen. However, being the older brother, Eldest Brother Lu Chenghan quickly calmed down. After a split second of confusion, he turned his body, hugging the man while facing away from Fourth Brother Lu Chenghan, straightened the man’s clothes, and casually asked why he was in his office.[mfn]To prevent confusion, since both have the same name, I’ll be putting ‘Eldest brother’ or ‘fourth brother’ before their names when both are mentioned in the same scene.[/mfn]
Remembering that awkward moment now, Lu Chenghan’s face was burning with embarrassment. Seeing his second brother listen to the entire story with a calm expression, he couldn’t help but complain, “Second brother, can you at least react a little? Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was? The way Big Brother looked at me was so murderous. When I left his office, I honestly felt like I had escaped with my life. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at his office the same way again!”
Lu Chenghe snorted coldly. “It’s a miracle that Big Brother didn’t kill you.”
Lu Chenghan shot him a glare, “Are you gloating?”
Zuo Ning, who had also heard the entire gossip, wanted to sympathetically pat this guy, but his paws were too short to reach, so he settled for patting Lu Chenghe instead. “Awoo~” You’re so pitiful to have two troublesome brothers. One is coming out of the closet, and the other… well, let’s just say it’s complicated. It’s a miracle that the Lu family has developed to this point.
While Lu Chenghan was narrating the cause and process of the event, Zuo Ning had already figured out who the Lu family was from the details he unintentionally revealed. They were probably still in the city where he grew up—Qingniao City.
Although Qingniao City wasn’t the capital, it was known as the “Magic City” and was one of the leading economic cities in the country. Qingniao was the third largest city in the nation. From Zuo Ning’s previous living place to the current location of the Lu family’s mansion, it would take about an hour on the high-speed train, so secretly running back to take a look was out of the question.
The Lu family was also a globally renowned group, with countless industries under its name, spanning many fields.
Zuo Ning had once thought that if he could get a job with one of the companies under the Lu family after graduation, that would be great. However, he never imagined that before his future plans had even come to fruition, he would already be sharing a bed with the big boss of the Lu family. Life opportunities really do change in the blink of an eye!
Not noticing the exclamation in Little Pudding’s eyes, Lu Chenghe gently scooped the dog up and placed it on his lap, gently stroking its fur. After spending more than a month with Little Pudding, he had learned to recognize its habits: when it was hungry, needed to pee, wanted attention, or was just randomly moving around. He understood it all.
Sure enough, under his soothing touch, Little Pudding had already turned into a limp puddle of fur on his lap, comfortably squinting its eyes.
Seeing this man and dog together, Lu Chenghan couldn’t help but twitch his lips. It seemed like Big Brother coming out was such a huge deal, but it didn’t seem as important as petting a dog. This wasn’t the second brother he knew!
Then, Lu Chenghan added, “You absolutely can’t guess who Big Brother’s partner is!”
Hearing this, Lu Chenghe immediately ran through Big Brother’s social network in his mind and then suddenly had a flash of insight. “That little celebrity?”
Lu Chenghan’s face immediately turned shocked. “Holy crap! How did you know?! Did you already notice something was off?!”
Lu Chenghe, of course, hadn’t known anything in advance. Although they were all part of the Lu family group, their divisions of labor were different. They helped each other out but never interfered in each other’s affairs. He had just remembered that around a certain time, Big Brother seemed to have shown interest in starting an entertainment company and had paid special attention to several movies. Even the company’s benefits included movie tickets, which wasn’t like the usually strict Big Brother, so he tentatively guessed. He hadn’t expected that his guess would be right.
After the shock, Lu Chenghan started getting even more gossip-hungry. “I didn’t expect Big Brother to be with that Chu Hang, though. But I gotta admit, Chu Hang’s looks are pretty decent. When I unexpectedly walked in on them, he wasn’t even startled. He politely greeted me.”
Zuo Ning, who had been enjoying the petting, suddenly opened his eyes wide. Chu Hang! The male lead of the drama he had been watching! Oh my god, he was Big Brother of the Lu family’s boyfriend! Zuo Ning felt like he could never watch that drama the same way again!
