I Woke Up and Got Married Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Chi Suinian had another dream.

Probably because he had been so angry lately, he dreamed of Lu Zhiyue once again.

The scene in the dream was during a noisy and hot summer break.

A few boys were gathered together in the back of the classroom, arms crossed, whispering among themselves, like a group of mischievous chickens.

Chi Suinian’s seat was in the third-to-last row, by the window. When the hot wind blew in from outside, he could hear bits of conversation.

…

“They put it in… he’ll see it…”

“Really? Last time with the spider… he shouldn’t be afraid of it.”

“Impossible. He’s so effeminate, he’ll definitely cry.”

Just from these few whispered words carried by the breeze, Chi Suinian could already guess what they were planning.

—They were going to prank him again.

Chi Suinian wasn’t a particularly likable person. After transferring schools, he never actively made friends and just stayed still at his seat, silent and distant. Despite his handsome and attractive appearance, he somehow gave people the impression of being cold and sinister, like a frozen lake on a bitter winter night.

He didn’t join any cliques, and his new class was just as unfriendly. Young people’s conflicts surfaced easily.

Because of this, Chi Suinian had experienced pranks like spider cookies, exploding sodas, and frog burgers before.

And now, the people who had been messing with him were once again gathered to plot.

It wasn’t hard to guess why.

Chi Suinian glanced down at his drawer. His backpack was clearly moved; the zipper wasn’t in the usual place.

They must have put something inside again.

What was it this time?

A mouse? A frog? Or a cockroach?

Childish.

Chi Suinian had grown sharp and no longer just took things lying down. He pulled out his backpack, intending to dump whatever disgusting thing was inside right onto those guys in the back row.

However, just as he stood up, a tall figure appeared by his desk.

The figure was tall, dressed in a white short-sleeve school uniform, and when he approached, he exuded a refreshing scent of pine. “It’s not time to leave yet. Where are you going?”

Mind your own business, Chi Suinian thought.

“Move.”

Lu Zhiyue didn’t budge. His gaze dropped to Chi Suinian’s tightly pursed lips and he said, “The next class is with the head teacher. She’ll take attendance. The consequences of skipping class are serious.”

What’s so serious about it? Isn’t it just writing a self-reflection?

And besides, I’m not skipping class.

“Move.”

Chi Suinian’s face turned cold. He was intimidating enough at this age, but Lu Zhiyue didn’t care about his icy expression and directly took Chi Suinian’s backpack from his hands.

“What are you doing?” Chi Suinian clenched his fingers and tried to pull his backpack back, but Lu Zhiyue was stronger than he expected. The unzipped bag opened up further with a jerk.

What happened next was beyond control.

…

Out of the backpack popped dozens of fist-sized bullfrogs.

Before Lu Zhiyue could pull his hand back, his palm was already wet and cool.

A round, plump frog stared at him, its chin raised, meeting his eyes.

Several girls sitting near Chi Suinian screamed in fright. The frogs, confused by the screams, began jumping around the classroom in a chaotic frenzy, triggering another round of panic.

Chi Suinian wasn’t really bothered; he didn’t mind these creatures. As for Lu Zhiyue…

Lu Zhiyue: “…”

He was still staring at the thing in his hand.

“Quiet! What’s all this noise? Your class is the loudest in the building!” A voice from the hallway boomed, immediately silencing the ruckus in the classroom.

But when the teacher entered and saw the mess, she froze for a second. “Who did this? Who brought these damn frogs into school? Own up, don’t make me find out!”

The class fell silent.

The boys in the back row had already huddled together like a group of frightened chickens.

The teacher’s gaze swept the room and immediately spotted Lu Zhiyue, who was in a standoff with a bullfrog in the middle of the classroom. She was about to make an example of him.

“Lu Zhiyue! Get out here!”

Chi Suinian thought, serves you right.

But the next moment, he felt a gaze on his profile.

Lu Zhiyue’s eyes, as dark as night, lingered on Chi Suinian for a moment, and then he tilted his head and said, “Teacher, this isn’t my backpack.”

Chi Suinian turned his head: “…”

The teacher’s gaze moved between the two of them twice, deciding to deal with both troublemakers at once.

“Chi Suinian, you come out too!”

“…”

Lu Zhiyue, are you trying to get me in trouble?

…

The consequence of letting bullfrogs loose in the classroom was being forced to clean the pond.

There was a small pond at the entrance of the attached school’s teaching building, surrounded by rocks and filled with a few hundred colorful ornamental fish. The fish were so fat, their round bellies looked like little pigs.

Given what he had just seen in the water, Chi Suinian didn’t feel too fond of these “little pigs.”

He expressionlessly wielded a long net, scooping out the leaves floating on the surface of the water, one by one.

“We agreed, one person, one half. But these fish swim everywhere, and the leaves are drifting around. Who does this fall on?” Lu Zhiyue asked, scooping up a net full of leaves.

Chi Suinian was still annoyed, not in the mood for talking.

Without looking up, he replied, “These fish like the smell of bullfrogs, and they keep swimming towards you. How is that my problem?”

“…”

Lu Zhiyue instinctively glanced at his right hand, remembering the cold touch from earlier.

“I did help you out a bit,” Lu Zhiyue said, putting down his net and leaning against a tree, looking at Chi Suinian, who was standing on the wooden bridge nearby. “Why the sudden cold attitude?”

Why is this guy so annoying?

If he hadn’t interfered, would I be doing this hard labor in the middle of summer?

Chi Suinian’s jaw tightened.

He felt like Lu Zhiyue was deliberately tormenting him.

This wasn’t the first time it had happened. Since transferring to the attached school, Lu Zhiyue had frequently come to provoke him.

No matter what Chi Suinian did, he would always stick his nose in, causing trouble like a pest.

It felt like they were naturally at odds. Chi Suinian just thought Lu Zhiyue was crazy.

…

The pond wasn’t big, and it took about an hour to clear all the leaves. The physical labor left Chi Suinian feeling hungry, so he set the net down and walked towards the cafeteria.

Lu Zhiyue lazily followed behind.

His footsteps were slow, dragging as if he had no particular rush, yet he always kept a distance that wasn’t too far from Chi Suinian.

Chi Suinian turned his head: “What are you following me for?”

Lu Zhiyue lazily hummed in response and smiled, “Did you book the cafeteria? Why haven’t you let anyone else go in?”

Chi Suinian: “…”

Damn it.

Lu Zhiyue could turn the simplest things into something irritating.

Chi Suinian ignored him.

There weren’t many students in the cafeteria since it wasn’t lunchtime yet, so Chi Suinian grabbed a tray and took his time choosing food.

“Don’t like celery?” Lu Zhiyue suddenly leaned in and asked, “I think it’s pretty good. Carrots are good for your eyes, and you won’t eat those either? A bit picky, huh… Chicken legs are good, you’re not getting them?”

Chi Suinian could no longer take it: “If you’re so good at picking, why don’t you just eat them all?”

Lu Zhiyue smiled. “I’d love to, but the auntie won’t let me.”

“…”

While Chi Suinian was distracted, the tray in his hands suddenly felt heavier. A shiny braised chicken leg had appeared on it.

Chi Suinian: “?”

“I’m treating you, no need to thank me.”

“…”

Did I say I’d thank you?

“No thanks.” Chi Suinian pushed the chicken leg aside with his chopsticks, and it rolled perfectly into Lu Zhiyue’s tray.

“Can’t be picky.” Lu Zhiyue returned the chicken leg, “Look at how skinny you are. You need to eat more meat to build up.”

He shouldn’t have said that.

The moment those words were out, Chi Suinian remembered their first meeting, where Lu Zhiyue had insulted him.

【Sure, you’re skinny, but at least your face is pretty.】

Chi Suinian pressed his tongue against his cheek, narrowing his eyes…

“You two going to eat or not? Stop playing around, don’t waste food,” the lunch lady knocked on the pot with a spoon, giving them a skeptical look.

“…”

So, Chi Suinian had to leave with his tray, now carrying an extra chicken leg, and found a seat to eat.

To his surprise, Lu Zhiyue sat down right in front of him.

“…”

Not finished yet?

“Go sit over there.” Chi Suinian said.

Lu Zhiyue raised an eyebrow: “Why?”

“I got here first.”

“I know.” Lu Zhiyue laughed, “I’m not fighting you for the seat. You’re going to care about the empty seat?”

Chi Suinian was beyond angry.

The food on his tray suddenly lost its appeal. He stood up to leave but was stopped by Lu Zhiyue.

“Didn’t you say not to waste food? Didn’t you hear me?”

“Mind your own business!” Chi Suinian’s temples were throbbing with anger.

Almost ready to blow up.

“Of course it’s my business.” Lu Zhiyue pointed at the tray, “I gave you the chicken leg. If you waste it, I’ll be guilty too.”

“Then put it back.”

“That won’t do. That’s for your health.”

“…”

Lu Zhiyue, are you trying to kill me?

Chi Suinian couldn’t take it anymore. The tray slammed down with a crash as he blurted out, “You’re always following me, making noise everywhere I go, can’t shake you off… Lu Zhiyue, are you in love with me or something?”

The room fell silent for a moment.

A few seconds later, it was broken by a soft “Holy shit—”

Chi Suinian turned his head.

A crowd of students had gathered near the entrance

of the cafeteria, all of them clearly eavesdropping.

Under the light, the quiet, tense atmosphere was pierced by the sound of a phone camera shutter.

Chi Suinian was woken up by anger.

Both in his dreams and in reality, Lu Zhiyue had the same irritating face, and just thinking about it made him want to hit him.

Chi Suinian even gritted his teeth when he woke up.

He turned over on the bed, stretched lazily, and pulled his muscles, preparing to get ready for when the time came to hit someone.

The soft fabric of the bedclothes brushed against his mouth and nose.

In his dazed state, he smelled a strange scent.

Chi Suinian furrowed his brow, pressed his nose against the pillow, and sniffed. Immediately, the fresh scent of pine filled his senses.

“…” Damn.

He almost forgot—Lu Zhiyue had slept next to him last night.

Where was he?

Having been angered by Lu Zhiyue twice in one night, with new grudges added to old ones, Chi Suinian was determined to settle the score with that dog of a man.

However, the master bedroom was quiet and empty, not a single sound.

…Lu Zhiyue had already run away.

Chi Suinian cursed himself for sleeping so soundly, feeling enraged as he grabbed the pillow and poked and hammered it for ten minutes.

Suddenly, the pillow vibrated, and Chi Suinian thought it was another call from Tang Jin or Lu Heng, so he answered without looking.

“What is it?”

“Hello, Mr. Chi, this is the Jin City Public Security Bureau. Are you the cousin of Chi Yu?”

······

Around closing time, the office door was pushed open, and the assistant poked his head in, whispering, “Xu, the boss of Lu Group is here.”

Xu Lingtang, who had been busy staring at the computer, looked up when he heard this. “Who did you say is here?”

The assistant replied, “Mr. Lu from Lu Group.”

“Why is he here at this hour…” Xu Lingtang glanced at the wall clock and said, “Let him in.”

The assistant added, “He’s waiting in the lounge downstairs.”

“Did he come to drink again?”

“Yeah,” the assistant nodded, adding, “He opened the bottle of Beauty’s Face you brought back from Italy last month.”

Xu Lingtang quickly reached for the pen but, with a slip of his hand, it rolled onto the floor.

He stammered, “What did you say he opened???”

The assistant, confused, quickly repeated himself.

A few seconds later, Xu Lingtang jumped up from his chair, frantic, and rushed out the door.

··

Xu Lingtang pushed the door open and saw Lu Zhiyue sprawled on the sofa, his suit jacket casually thrown aside. It was clear he’d come directly from the company. As Xu Lingtang walked closer, he saw a bottle of the premium Beauty’s Face wine, already opened, in front of Lu Zhiyue.

At that moment, Xu Lingtang was on the verge of a breakdown.

That wine had taken him a long time to find, purchasing it for a high price from a private collector, intending to savor it slowly with incense, but now it had been destroyed by Lu Zhiyue in his drunken haze.

It was like chewing on a peony!

Xu Lingtang walked in, and Lu Zhiyue glanced up at him, saying, “Why can’t you get drunk with this wine?”

Xu Lingtang was even more devastated, saying, “Dude, you could drink ten more bottles and still not get drunk. Stop wasting my wine!”

He held the bottle protectively, crying, “There’s so much wine in the cabinet, why did you have to open this one?”

Lu Zhiyue finished the drink in his glass, lazily replied, “Your cabinet has plenty of wine, but this one was the only one I hadn’t tried.”

“……”

What a destructive friend.

At least he left me with some.

Luckily, I arrived early, or I wouldn’t have gotten the last few sips.

Xu Lingtang carefully took the last drop from the bottle and poured it into a glass. The rich fragrance instantly filled the air.

Xu Lingtang sat down next to Lu Zhiyue, who looked like a sulking teenager. He asked, “You didn’t go home after work? What about your little young master?”

Lu Zhiyue gave a short laugh, took the glass from Xu Lingtang, drank it, and then said in a muffled tone, “He’s probably still mad. I went too far last night.”

“……”

Xu Lingtang watched the beautiful wine disappear into Lu Zhiyue’s mouth, swallowing hard.

“Are you serious? Could you leave me just one sip?”

“Is it gone?” Lu Zhiyue lifted the glass, swirling it around. “Was there only one bottle?”

“Of course! If there was more, do you think I’d be stingy?” Xu Lingtang replied.

Lu Zhiyue paused, then put down his glass. “What a shame, it was quite good.”

“……” Is that even a real sentence?

Xu Lingtang, heartbroken over the loss of his favorite wine, gave up and slumped next to Lu Zhiyue, hoarsely saying, “I told you pretending to be drunk wouldn’t work, but you wouldn’t listen, and now you’ve messed up, huh?”

“I didn’t mess up.”

Xu Lingtang lifted his head. “……What?”

Lu Zhiyue stared at him silently.

Xu Lingtang frowned, confused. “Then why are you so worried?”

Lu Zhiyue rubbed his forehead and stayed silent for a while before finally saying, “I got too happy last night and accidentally pissed him off.”

I didn’t dare go home.

“Damn!!”

Xu Lingtang stared at him in disbelief for two seconds, then shouted, “Lu Zhiyue, are you saying you went and did something drunk?”

Lu Zhiyue’s temples were throbbing from the shout, and he frowned, saying, “Can you stop thinking such filthy thoughts?”

Uh…

Xu Lingtang watched his expression for a while, then cautiously asked, “You didn’t sleep with him, did you?”

Lu Zhiyue nodded, pursing his lips.

Xu Lingtang was even more baffled. “Then what did you do to upset him?”

You didn’t even dare go home after work? How much of a mess did you make with Chi family’s young master?

“I hugged him.”

…A long silence.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Xu Lingtang: “……”

You drank my whole bottle for that?

“This is already serious.” Lu Zhiyue frowned.

When he woke up this morning, he found Chi Suinian, with his face flushed, lying sweetly in his arms, and he was so happy.

However, the joy was short-lived when he suddenly saw Chi Suinian furrow his brows, grind his teeth, and angrily mutter in his sleep: “Lu Zhiyue, do you want to die?”

“……”

The drunken haze dissipated, and Lu Zhiyue came to his senses, worried that Chi Suinian would seek revenge later, so he left without breakfast.

He spent the whole day distracted, trying to figure out what to do… but couldn’t get drunk no matter what kind of wine Xu Lingtang had in his cabinet.

Xu Lingtang, surprised, said, “I didn’t expect you to be troubled by love like this. I told you, you should’ve confessed first, then pursued him. Why did you go straight to talking about marriage?”

Lu Zhiyue went silent, like he was reflecting on Xu Lingtang’s words. Xu Lingtang continued, “You also said Chi Suinian is cold-hearted but soft inside, if you pursue him properly, he will say yes…”

“I didn’t confess.” Lu Zhiyue cut him off, speaking gravely. “I’ve been chasing him for ten years.”

Xu Lingtang: “……”

You’ve been chasing him for ten years?

Xu Lingtang forced himself to calm down.

He was the only one who knew the truth. After Chi Suinian’s car accident and coma, the hospital issued three death notices. It wasn’t until a month later that he stabilized, and since then, Lu Zhiyue had been acting strange. After locking himself up for three days, he came out planning to deceive Chi Suinian.

Xu Lingtang always thought this was revenge for old grudges, but… there was something deeper.

It seemed like… ten years ago, Chi Suinian had just transferred to Jin City High School.

They must’ve met around then, right?

Love at first sight?

That’s too cliché.

Xu Lingtang, being part of the school, remembered the ten or so years of their bickering. Well, maybe it was exactly that.

Lu Zhiyue would never argue back, no matter how much Chi Suinian teased him. He always tolerated and spoiled him.

Back when Chi Suinian had just transferred, he had been so quiet and delicate.

Xu Lingtang sat dumbfounded for a while, then suddenly asked, “Wait a minute, when did you confess to Chi Suinian?”

Lu Zhiyue closed his eyes and sighed, “I confessed thirteen years ago.”

“…… Where?”

“In the cafeteria.”

“……”

Could you say that again? Where???

Suddenly, Xu Lingtang remembered an old event.

He froze, unable to believe it, then turned and asked, “The time you both got punished to clean the pond?”

“Yeah.”

You’re still saying ‘yeah’?

Xu Lingtang was driven insane. His understanding of the past ten years was shattered. He stammered, “That can’t be considered a confession. It was clearly a provocation!”

Lu Zhiyue frowned, “I didn’t provoke him.”

Lu Zhiyue was always meticulous, never lying or pretending. He was sincere, but with no emotional intelligence, and could never humiliate someone he liked.

Xu Lingtang understood this, so he said, “I know you didn’t mean to, but in that situation, your confession came at the wrong time. To Chi Suinian, it felt like provocation, humiliation, and a declaration of war.”

Lu Zhiyue suddenly froze, blinking in confusion.

······

When Chi Suinian arrived at the police station, it was already 4 pm. He hadn’t even had time to contact a lawyer and went alone to the Criminal Police Department.

Just like they’d said on the phone, he was here to bail out Chi Yu.

“Are you Chi Yu’s cousin?” The police officer in charge of registration, Officer Chen, was a cold-faced woman. She looked a little tired, probably due to a busy case load, but still managed to muster some energy when she saw Chi Suinian. She asked, “Why didn’t his parents come?”

Chi Suinian smirked, his tone sarcastic, “They’re busy cultivating immortality.”

If they’re not gods, then what are they?

Officer Chen: “……”

Are all handsome guys crazy these days?

“Follow me,” Officer Chen sighed, leading the way.

Chi Suinian was taken to an office and saw Chi Yu crouched in the corner.

Compared to a while ago, the teenager had lost quite a bit of weight, with a stubbled chin,

his face still pale, and his features a little stiff. His lips were pressed tightly, and the anger in his eyes seemed to have finally worn out.

Chi Suinian walked over and suddenly froze when he saw the boy’s sharp eyes.

“… What’s wrong?” He asked, glancing at the uniformed officer.

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