OVTTGTBE Chapter 53

A Bet

Bai Yao hesitated for a long time, but ultimately didn’t hug him.

Instead, he leaned close to Liu Yucheng and whispered in his ear, “Then, if I wear a tight-fitting tank top to work in the future, only showing my arms, can you accept that?”

“…”

“It’s just showing the muscles on my arms.”

“Okay.” Liu Yucheng finally nodded. “I can barely accept that.”

Bai Yao deliberately sighed and said, “I was originally planning to go swimming with you during the summer vacation. Swimming in the summer is a must for me. If you’re so conservative, it seems I can only go with someone else.”

“That’s different.”

Liu Yucheng’s tone became sticky and soft, “If we go swimming, I can immediately grab a towel to cover you when you get out of the water. Even if someone wants to stare, they won’t be able to see anything.”

“Heh, that sounds a bit suffocating.”

“…”

“Also, Liu Yucheng, I have to correct you.”

Bai Yao said casually, “I was properly wearing pants when I was working this afternoon. If I wasn’t wearing pants and only had an apron, *that* would be called flaunting myself.”

“…………”

Hearing this, Liu Yucheng felt like something was going wrong.

After being awkward for a while, he said, “Your bag, lend it to me to cover myself.”

It was still early, so the two didn’t return directly to the dorm. Instead, they detoured to a nearby pet hospital to visit Senior, who was getting so much attention from students lately that he was about to have a meltdown.

Senior was recovering well. Liu Yucheng said that Yan Hao had agreed to let Senior live in the dorm and had even ordered a litter box online. In a couple of days, they could bring Senior back. Until Senior fully recovered, their dorm would have a cat.

…

Qianqian: “Bai, you see, the young master has found another job. I’ll send you the video.”

“Tsk, he’s even learned to make drinks. He’s better than me.”

After Bai Junyi sighed, she asked, “What’s Liu doing?”

“Uh, well, Liu seems very angry. The two of them were saying something on the street… We’re too far away here, and we’ve checked the nearby surveillance, but there’s no audio.”

“However, they don’t seem to have fallen out. They went to the nearby pet hospital together.”

After listening to her report, Bai Junyi had a headache.

“Bai, what are you planning to do next?” Assistant Zhou asked from the side.

“I thought that if I cut off Dudu’s financial resources, he would come to me and admit his mistake.”

Bai Junyi snorted and continued, “It seems that his breakup with Liu is just a tantrum. If he really doesn’t like him anymore, as he said during his speech, why would he be arguing with me for Liu’s sake?”

“Why do you have to break them up?”

Assistant Zhou was very puzzled. “I remember you used to say that you wouldn’t interfere, regardless of whether the young master chose to get married and have children in the future. Aren’t he and Liu pretty good together as they are…?”

“In this world, love is the most unreliable thing.”

Bai Junyi glanced at her and said quietly, “Although I haven’t experienced it myself, and Cheng Tianyang and I can’t really be considered to have had love… but these years, you’ve been working while raising your child alone. I thought you understood that very well.”

“Little Popsicle… she wanted our two children to get along well.”

“If one day, they become estranged because of unreliable things like love, what face will I have to see her?”

Bai Junyi stood up, leaning on her desk. “Book me a plane ticket. Since he refuses to come to me and admit his mistake, then we’ll go there. This time, bring a few more people with us.”

“Okay, Bai.”

…

“It’s so crowded! Why are there so many people? Did they all come to pet Senior??”

Bai Yao couldn’t even get into his own dorm room. He complained, “There are so many other upperclassmen at school. Can you guys leave this big fat orange cat alone?”

“I’m petting him for my girlfriend. I’ll leave after I’m done,” one boy said.

“I’m petting him for my ex-girlfriend. I’ll send her a photo after I’m done. Maybe she’ll be willing to talk to me,” another boy said.

“I’m petting him for my ambiguous interest…”

“Stop with the ambiguous interest. She’s never even paid attention to you.”

Li Jinyang couldn’t help but say, “Okay, okay, everyone disperse. Give Senior some space to breathe! You smelly men are annoying him to death! Who was it? Couldn’t even wash their feet before coming. You’ve made our dorm stink!”

“That’s Senior’s poop smell.”

“Huh? How dare you! How dare you complain that Senior’s poop stinks? Get out, get out, all of you!”

After finally chasing everyone away, Li Jinyang closed the door and opened the window in one fell swoop. While standing by the window to get some fresh air, he asked, “Yo, you’re off work, Bai?”

“Yeah, so tired.”

Bai Yao slumped directly into a chair. “Working at the milk tea shop is so tiring. An hour’s wage isn’t even enough for a cup of milk tea. Am I some kind of masochist…? Ah, Senior is sitting on my lap! I feel like I’ve been chosen in a royal selection. Damn, it’s so magical.”

Senior, wearing an Elizabethan collar, crossed one leg and jumped directly from the desk onto Bai Yao’s lap.

His little claws were a little prickly, but after he sat down, Bai Yao felt warm and fuzzy, very happy.

“I thought Liu went to pick you up. Didn’t he come back with you?” Li Jinyang asked.

“He did, he went to buy food. Want me to have him get you some too? What do you want to eat?”

“No need, no need. I’ve already ordered takeout. I’ll go get it later.”

…

An hour later, Bai Yao came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. He looked around. Yan Hao and Li Jinyang were both there. Li Jinyang had even finished his takeout.

“Where’s Liu Yucheng??”

Bai Yao suddenly had a bad feeling. “Has he come back at all?”

“No, Yan Hao and I were just saying, what did Liu go to do?”

Li Jinyang glanced at the time. “It’s already past nine at night.”

Bai Yao directly unplugged his charging phone and sent Liu Yucheng several WeChat voice messages, but he didn’t answer any of them.

Bai Yao: Where did you go? Why haven’t you come back yet?

After waiting for ten minutes without a reply, Bai Yao found Liu Yucheng’s two phone numbers. One couldn’t be connected, and the other was quickly hung up.

Bai Yao was still trying to call when, less than half a minute later, he received a message from Aunt Zhou.

Aunt Zhou: Don’t worry, Little Liu is fine.

Bai Yao: What’s going on????

Aunt Zhou: He’s with us now.

Bai Yao: Did my mom do this? Where did my mom take him?

Aunt Zhou: Yes. Don’t worry, he’s safe and sound. He’ll be fine. Don’t call anymore for now either, your mother is very angry right now.

Of course, Bai Yao wouldn’t listen to her. He called Bai Junyi directly.

“Hello, Dudu?”

“Bai, where did you take Liu Yucheng??”

Bai Yao said angrily, “I’m telling you, he doesn’t eat or drink anything of yours. You can’t lock him up! If you don’t let him come back today, I’m calling the police!”

“Is that how you talk to your mother? Is ‘Bai’ something you can call me?”

Even through the phone, Bai Junyi couldn’t suppress her anger. “You’ve really grown wings, haven’t you? What’s wrong, you can’t see your little lover for a while, and you’re already getting anxious?”

“What little lover?”

Bai Yao chuckled sarcastically and said, “He’s your future son-in-law, the male version of a daughter-in-law. How’s that? Happy? I believe Aunt Ying Xuan would be very pleased if she knew.”

“Bai Yao!!! You!”

Bai Junyi was already angry, and being provoked by him like this almost caused her to erupt like a volcano on the spot.

But with many years of social experience, and the fact that Bai Yao had grown up with her, she instantly pinpointed Bai Yao’s weakness and said sarcastically, “Oh, Little Liu was just telling me that the two of you are finding it hard to reconcile. But it seems like you really like him a lot!”

After she said that, Bai Yao heard Liu Yucheng’s urgent voice coming from her side, “What did Bai Yao say? What did he say??”

“Liu Yucheng!”

Bai Yao shouted into the phone, “Where are you right now?! Are you okay!”

“Bai Yao, I’m fine—”

Bai Junyi hung up the phone directly.

…

“Touched?”

Bai Junyi asked with a straight face.

“Yeah.”

Liu Yucheng nodded. “If it weren’t for you, I might never have heard him say those things in my entire life.”

“Heh, those were just words said in anger. You two have known each other for a while now. Can’t you even see that?”

Bai Junyi sneered and said, “I raised him. I know his temper the best.”

“Do you believe that, if you go back to him now, he still won’t reconcile with you. It’s just like when I used to take him shopping at the mall when he was little, and he liked the toys in the mall. Back then, I would buy him anything he liked. But what happened? At most, he’d play with those toys for no more than two days before completely forgetting about them.”

Liu Yucheng subconsciously clenched his fists.

She was right. Bai Yao’s words just now were probably to make her angry.

But…

“Aunt Bai, you just said that you were going to send him abroad immediately.”

Liu Yucheng said firmly, “Even if I have to wait ten or eight years, even a lifetime, I don’t plan to give up on him. But Bai Yao is allergic to so many foods. If he goes abroad, aren’t you worried about his diet?”

“I can hire as many cooks as I want.”

Bai Junyi tapped the table with her finger. “Aunt Yang can cook for him, you can cook for him, and others can too.”

“Then since you’ve already decided, why did you keep me here?”

Liu Yucheng asked tentatively, “You wouldn’t be thinking of having me convince him to study abroad, would you? I don’t think you’re a cruel person.”

“…”

This kid actually guessed it.

Since he had already said that, Bai Junyi couldn’t be too direct. She could only silently open a drawer and take out a project proposal.

“I’ve investigated your personal background. Among people your age, your experience is considered impressive. Although your education is currently just a bachelor’s degree, you are at least a student at a prestigious university.”

“This project, for some reason, can only be entrusted to someone I particularly trust. I’m thinking of giving it to you. If you do it well, you can work under me after you graduate. In at most a year or two, you’ll have the opportunity to go abroad to see Dudu, and you’ll be able to meet again. It’s just… based on my understanding of Dudu, a few years is enough time for him to fall in love with someone else.”

Liu Yucheng frowned and asked, “What if I don’t agree?”

“Anyway, Dudu will be sent abroad by me no matter what. But you, you’re alone in society, without any connections. Even if you start from scratch, can you calculate how many years it will take before you can see Dudu again?”

Bai Junyi chuckled and said, “For Ying Xuan’s sake, I’m giving you an opportunity. I hope you can cherish it.”

Liu Yucheng loosened his tightly clenched hand. A few drops of blood dripped from his palm to the ground.

It seemed that he had no choice.

“Auntie.”

He opened his mouth and said, “I wonder if you’d be willing to make a bet with me? If I win, then please don’t interfere in my relationship with him anymore. If I lose, I can do my best to help you with this project, for free. All the profits that should be mine in the future will all go to Bai Yao. What do you think?”

“Oh? What will we bet on?”

“We’ll bet…”

Liu Yucheng curled the corner of his mouth. “That he will fight you with all his might and ultimately stay in the country.”

He had said many sincere things before, and Bai Yao had believed them all.

Now, it was his turn to believe in Bai Yao.