INT Chapter 48

With less than a month until final exams, Lu Ze’s love life remained unaffected. Sun Zhuoyu suggested a group dinner, but Lu Ze declined, citing Liang Xiao’s busy schedule. In reality, Liang Xiao was indeed often busy, and Lu Ze didn’t want their rare free weekend to be interrupted.

 

When dating girls, Lu Ze had plenty of ideas for outings, but with Liang Xiao, he was clueless. Asking Liang Xiao for suggestions? That was even less helpful.

 

“The stuff I did with clients doesn’t suit us,” Liang Xiao said. “Not much to reference.”

 

Lu Ze sighed and sipped his tofu pudding. “I’ve got no experience with two guys dating… Haven’t you ever taken clients somewhere special?”

 

After thinking for a moment, Liang Xiao replied, “The most special place was probably a kindergarten.”

 

Lu Ze choked on his tofu pudding, laughing and coughing simultaneously. Liang Xiao quickly stood up, patted his back, and handed him a tissue. Lu Ze grabbed it to cover his mouth as he coughed uncontrollably.

 

After a while, his face red from coughing, Lu Ze finally caught his breath and rasped out with a hoarse laugh: “Xiao-ge, are you trying to kill me?”

 

Liang Xiao frowned in concern. “Are you okay? It didn’t go into your windpipe, did it?”

 

Lu Ze waved him off. “No…”

 

He pushed Liang Xiao gently. “I’m fine now; go sit down.”

 

Liang Xiao studied his face before sitting back down with a sigh. “Next time, no laughing while eating—you scared me.”

 

Lu Ze coughed lightly again as Liang Xiao got up to fetch him a cup of warm water. After drinking it, Lu Ze finally felt better and smiled helplessly. “I wasn’t always like this—it’s just that you hit my funny bone. Can’t help it…”

 

Liang Xiao clicked his tongue. “Then next time I won’t talk while we eat.”

 

“Don’t!” Lu Ze protested quickly. “Just warn me before you say something funny.”

 

Liang Xiao stared at him directly. “What’s so funny about a kindergarten? I don’t even know what your sense of humor is.”

 

Lu Ze laughed again—this time with an empty mouth—and rubbed his face after letting loose for a while. “If I keep laughing like this for another month with you, I’ll grow two new wrinkles.”

 

Whenever Lu Ze laughed, Liang Xiao couldn’t help but smile too. Though he thought he wasn’t smiling, the corners of his mouth betrayed him.

 

Pushing his bowl aside and propping himself up on the table, Lu Ze struck a dramatic pose. “Alright, I’m done eating for now—tell me why someone rented you to go to a kindergarten?”

 

Liang Xiao also stopped eating and explained: “A young single mom was worried her daughter would get bullied at kindergarten for not having a dad, so she asked me to go with her to pick up her kid after school.”

 

Intrigued, Lu Ze pressed on: “And then?”

 

Liang Xiao smiled faintly. “Then the little girl came out and loudly asked her mom if she had given her a brother.”

 

Imagining the scene, Lu Ze burst into laughter again, nearly falling off his chair.

 

“No matter how mature you look, there’s no way you’re old enough to be her dad,” Lu Ze said between laughs. “Kids really do have sharp eyes.”

 

“The mom didn’t look like a mom either—she seemed pretty young,” Liang Xiao added.

 

Lu Ze gradually stopped laughing and looked at him in silence.

 

“It’s not that, I mean,” Liang Xiao quickly clarified, “it’s just that being a mom at such a young age must be really tough.”

 

Lu Ze nodded. “Yeah.”

 

He didn’t want to continue the topic, but Liang Xiao unexpectedly said, “My… mom also raised me when she was very young.”

 

Lu Ze froze, momentarily forgetting his jealousy. Liang Xiao tore the remaining fried dough stick in half, soaking each piece in their bowls.

 

“I’m not her biological child. I was abandoned at the market entrance, and she found me when she was just in her early twenties,” Liang Xiao said, poking at his bowl with his chopsticks. “She never got married and didn’t want me to call her ‘mom.’ She always said I was lucky to survive, but I know raising me wasn’t easy for her. She made a lot of sacrifices.”

 

Lu Ze was stunned into silence. Liang Xiao looked up at him and continued slowly, “So, when she was tricked into debt, I couldn’t just ignore it. Helping her repay it is my responsibility. I also want her to know that the child she took in out of kindness… isn’t useless or just a burden dragging her down.”

 

Lu Ze’s innate kindness, inherited from Xu Jingjing, made him feel deeply moved by these words. Lowering his head to hide his tears, he whispered, “Auntie must be someone who’s tough on the outside but soft-hearted inside. With such a wonderful son like you, there’s no way she could think of you as a burden.”

 

A tissue suddenly appeared in front of him. As Lu Ze reached for it, Liang Xiao gently wiped his tears instead and awkwardly said, “Don’t cry—I didn’t tell you this to make you cry.”

 

Lu Ze grabbed Liang Xiao’s hand and pressed it firmly against his eyes before looking up with a smile. “I know—you didn’t want me to misunderstand.”

 

Liang Xiao froze for a moment, surprised that Lu Ze had immediately understood his intention.

 

“You wanted to tell me that your mom is a good person—not the kind of parent who neglects their child or keeps draining them even after they grow up. Right?”

 

Liang Xiao felt a lump in his throat and could only manage a soft “Mm.”

 

“You also didn’t want me to worry about dating you—thinking you have an unreliable family burdened by debt,” Lu Ze continued.

 

Liang Xiao was speechless now, staring at Lu Ze intently. Lu Ze smiled warmly at him. “Don’t worry—I’ve never worried about those things. All I’ve thought about is how lucky I am to have found such a handsome, kind, capable boyfriend who makes my heart race.”

 

Looking into Lu Ze’s tear-filled eyes, Liang Xiao felt his heart melt completely. He never realized he could be so easily moved—so much so that Lu Ze’s words almost brought him to tears.

 

He lowered his head for a moment to compose himself. When he looked up again, his face was calm though his voice was slightly hoarse. “Let’s go.”

 

“Go where?” Lu Ze asked.

 

Liang Xiao didn’t answer but grabbed his hand and quickly led him out of the breakfast shop.

 

Next to the shop was a narrow alley barely wide enough for one car. Liang Xiao pulled Lu Ze into it and hugged him tightly.

 

“You too,” Liang Xiao murmured into Lu Ze’s shoulder. “You’re an incredibly handsome, incredibly kind, incredibly amazing… incredibly special boyfriend who makes my heart race.”

 

Lu Ze felt his heartbeat quicken again. Tilting his head slightly, he kissed the tip of Liang Xiao’s ear and watched as it turned from pale white to bright red.

 

Lu Ze smiled. Suddenly, he had the urge to conduct an experiment.

 

Is it true that being with someone who makes your heart race will make every single day feel like that?

 

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