Surprise! My online crush turned out to be... - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

“What’s wrong?” Shu Yang was startled by the man’s sudden action, then subconsciously held his breath because of the distance between them, and asked quietly.

Francis didn’t answer him, but stared at the wall above Shu Yang for a few seconds, then raised his arm, trying to distance themselves from him.

At that moment, a loud bang suddenly came from the door. Francis subconsciously pulled the man back into his arms, adopting a protective posture, and quickly looked out the door.

He saw a man who had entered the lounge at some point, looking at them with a suspicious expression.

Shu Yang’s view was blocked by Francis. He struggled twice to finally pry his face from Francis’s arms. When he saw the man in the lounge, he exclaimed in surprise, “Dad?”

Francis’s arm stiffened for a moment, then slowly lowered it, allowing Shu Yang to step out of his arms. He stood there and nodded to Shu Zhiyi as a gesture of greeting.

Shu Yang walked over and saw his father carefully closing the door for him. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Why are you here?” Shu Yang led Shu Zhiyi to sit on the sofa, and he waved to Francis to join him.

Shu Zhiyi snorted coldly, ignoring him. He turned to Francis, who was still standing there, and said, “Are you talking about this kid?”

Shu Yang rolled his eyes, then nodded. He turned his head to face Francis and winked at Shu Zhiyi. “Yes, yes, yes, this is my new friend. He’s staying with me for a while because of something. He doesn’t like to talk much, so don’t scare him, Dad.”

“Oh, not talkative? Come over here and sit down, young man.” Shu Zhiyi waved. “I just heard Shu Yang mention you.”

Shu Zhiyi had never expected to see such a scene upon entering the house. The son he had raised for eighteen years didn’t bring home a little girl, but was instead embraced by another man, who hadn’t even heard him enter the house. If he hadn’t said anything, given the situation, they could have kissed.

Young people these days, really are…

The more Shu Zhiyi thought about it, the angrier he became.

Francis walked over and said, “Uncle.”

“Who’s your uncle?” Shu Zhiyi glared, but was immediately restrained by Shu Yang. Only then did he suppress his anger. “Sit down. What’s your name?”

No one could accept this so quickly.

Just now, when his son told him he liked boys, he could mentally prepare himself, hoping that his son was just young and confused about matters of love. In fact, Shu Zhiyi considered himself an open-minded parent, and even if his son truly liked men, he would support him.

But just an hour after telling him this, he saw Shu Yang hugging a man who looked like a tough guy. He felt his heart couldn’t bear the shock.

Furthermore, the disparity in their physical size made it obvious who was being bullied.

Shu Zhiyi had his own way of judging people, and he could easily tell that this man was no ordinary person. But even so, there was no way he would immediately show any favor to him.

“Hello, I’m Francis Berkeley Tours.” Francis, recalling the etiquette, extended his hand.

Thinking back to the previous situation, he realized it was indeed easy to be misunderstood.

In a situation like this where a misunderstanding needed to be explained, his self-introduction should have been more formal, but considering this was Blue Star China, any further introduction would have been meaningless. So Francis could only introduce himself by his name.

When Shu Zhiyi heard the name, he took a closer look at Francis’s appearance. “Shu Yang said you’re staying in his little house now?”

Isn’t that living together? Shu Zhiyi glanced at Shu Yang, the meaning clear in his eyes. Shu Yang shrank back.

“I have some reasons recently and have to trouble Shu Yang. I will leave after I find a new place to live.” Francis explained earnestly, the solemn look in his eyes compelling him to believe.

Shu Zhiyi nodded, but Shu Yang still gave Francis a puzzled look.

Is this the reason to go out and find a job?

Just as he was thinking about work, he heard Shu Zhiyi ask Francis, “You’re already working, right? What kind of job?”

Francis didn’t give the impression of a student. His calm and sophisticated demeanor told Shu Zhiyi that he was considerably older than Shu Yang.

Hearing this, Shu Yang felt a pang of worry. Before he could intervene, Francis replied, “I’m currently working as a porter at the Taihua Construction site. Today is my first day.”

…

Shu Yang collapsed on the sofa, feeling cold.

Francis looked at the contrasting expressions of the father and son before him, a flicker of confusion in his eyes, then a glimmer of understanding.

In the Empire, such work certainly wouldn’t require soldiers, but in China, their skills sometimes seemed to lag behind the demands of life, leaving them to rely on human labor to fill the gap.

Those with high overall quality ratings often take on more difficult tasks and receive higher salaries. As for those with less-high ratings, only a small number could achieve success through their own efforts.

Even Joyce, who was only competent for document processing and network technology duties within the Legion, though his physical fitness only reached B-level in the assessment, his mental strength was as high as S-level, and his overall assessment was A-level.

But clearly, judging by the reactions of the two men, he didn’t think the job he had found was a very good one.

Francis waited in silence for them to speak.

“Dad, why don’t you go down first? It’s not good to keep the customers waiting,” Shu Yang thought for a moment, then said cautiously.

Shu Zhiyi’s face had already darkened when he heard Francis was still moving bricks at the construction site.

He didn’t look down on such workers, but he certainly wouldn’t agree to leave his son, who had grown up in privileged conditions, to such a person.

So, upon hearing this result, Shu Zhiyi’s face turned cold, and he didn’t say anything else.

In his opinion, this person was either telling the truth, in which case he wasn’t suitable to be with his son, or lying, in which case he clearly wasn’t sincere and couldn’t be with his son either.

Shu Zhiyi stood up, straightened his clothes, and maintained the necessary politeness. “Then I’ll go downstairs to entertain them. Shu Yang, you guys hurry down too.”

Shu Yang had no choice but to agree.

After Shu Zhiyi left, Shu Yang turned to Francis and said, “If we’re not downstairs in five minutes, the assistant will definitely come up to call us.”

He knew Shu Zhiyi all too well. No matter how he changed, he was still a controlling businessman at heart.

“What’s wrong with the job?” Francis asked, puzzled.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong. Don’t overthink it.” Shu Yang pondered for a long time but couldn’t think of any problem. In fact, for Francis, this job might be the perfect fit… right?

“Yeah.”

“Why did you just…” Shu Yang tried to organize his words. If Shu Zhiyi hadn’t suddenly appeared, he would have asked, “Suddenly…”

How should I put it?

“Nothing.” Francis’s eyes darkened, and he stared at Shu Yang’s face. “Your shower gel smells nice, too.”

“Yes, really?” Shu Yang raised his arm and sniffed, but smelled nothing.

—

Shu Yang walked behind Francis, looking at the man’s broad back, once again caught in a dilemma.

He wasn’t stupid. Francis’s sudden, ambiguous behavior had nearly turned him on. He didn’t believe what Francis had said, but he couldn’t do anything rashly to Francis. He didn’t want him to think he was a casual person.

Shu Yang was sometimes slow to react to feelings, sometimes very shrewd. It all depended on whether he liked them or not. If he liked someone, he could interpret even the slightest gesture in ninety-nine hundred different ways.

A clamor of voices gradually reached his ears, and dazzling lights streamed in from the corner of the corridor. Shu Yang took two steps forward, walking ahead of Francis and leading him into this—his world.

Their simultaneous appearance didn’t attract much attention.

But Tao Zi, Qiao Jianxue beside him, Chen Yi, who was sitting in the dessert area, and Shu Zhiyi, who was chatting with someone, all cast their gazes their way.

Tao Zi restrained Qiao Jianxue, who was about to move again, and gave her a warning look. Qiao Jianxue then sat back down, a look of disappointment on her face.

Chen Yi, however, was less cautious. From a distance, he shouted at the two, “Over here! Yang’er! Da Ge! Over here!”

This shout drew the attention of everyone who heard it to the two men. Shu Yang wanted to slap his forehead. Could this Fatty Shen really not see that he didn’t want to be so high-profile?!

When they reached Fatty Shen, Shu Yang picked up a dessert and stuffed it into Shen Yi’s mouth. “How can so much still keep you hungry?”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Shu Yang was feeling a bit annoyed. He had just received a text from Shu Zhiyi asking him to stay after the banquet. He could already imagine what Shu Zhiyi was going to say.

Or…

“Big Pigeon, shall we go now?” Shu Yang pinched his fingers. After all, Shu Zhiyi must have canceled countless meetings to make time for this business banquet.

If he slipped away with Francis now, Shu Zhiyi wouldn’t have the time to personally go to his little place to arrest him, and he wouldn’t have to listen to all that nonsense later.

Seeing Francis now, Shu Yang thought, it would be more comfortable to stay with Francis. As for repaying his father’s love, he could talk about it later.

“Is that okay?” Francis looked at Shu Yang, his tone making it hard to tell whether he agreed or refused.

Shu Yang added fuel to the fire. “How about we stop by the stray animal adoption center on the way back? I’ll adopt them, and you can pet them.”

Francis had shown him those kitten videos before; he didn’t believe this wouldn’t impress him!

Francis’s eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Shu Yang. “Hmm.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Fatty Shen stuffed a small cake into his mouth. “Shu once said he disliked small animals…”

…

Shu Yang scooped up the largest cake and blew it into Shen Yi’s face.

“A small cake can’t shut you up, right? How about this?!”

Shen Yi, a nimble fat man, was used to Shu Yang’s sudden attacks. He stepped back to avoid them and continued, “Big Pigeon, cherish our Mee Mee.”

Shu Yang’s expression was complicated, and then he heard Francis fall silent behind him. He put down the cake in his hand and turned to Francis. “Big Pigeon, don’t listen to his nonsense. Let’s get going.”

Francis looked at the boy before him. After his earlier fight with the boy named Shen Yi, his once-perfect hairstyle had become a little disheveled, diminishing his original elegance and adding a touch of youthful energy.

His cheeks were slightly flushed, as if he’d drunk too much, but a hint of unease could be seen in his lively eyes.

Francis was momentarily at a loss, unsure of what to do. He wondered what impact his actions would have on the boy.

He had seen many adoring glances, but never had he seen eyes as pure, clear, and focused as the boy’s.

“Let’s go.”

Shu Yang was about to reach out and grab his arm, but then, remembering how Big Pigeon had just pretended not to hear Shen Yi’s words, he lowered his hand.

After all, he hadn’t yet pursued Big Pigeon, so he didn’t want to be too abrupt and scare her.