The Flower Of The High Mountain Is Pregnant With The Son Of The Sand Sculpture Ceo Chapter 6

Chapter 6 The Adorable Pufferfish

It wasn’t until the end of the month, after his salary was paid and Lu Shangyan took him to the supermarket’s discount section, that Pei Yumin finally understood what the gift was.

Lu Shangyan bent down, lifted his foot, and measured it against a pair—a perfect fit. But then he looked at Pei Yumin’s foot and swapped it for a size larger.

Pei Yumin asked him why. “At your age, you shouldn’t be growing anymore, right?”

Lu Shangyan nodded. “But I can’t wear both pairs. The other pair is for you, otherwise it would be a waste.”

“Both pairs are the same size, and they can’t be swapped. Since they are just slippers, it’s fine if I wear a size up.”

The plastic bag contained two pairs: one blue-black and one pink-black. Although they were cheap, they were meticulously marked with a large, exaggerated “love” symbol and a distorted heart.

In the past, Pei Yumin probably would have preferred to go barefoot than wear such slippers.

But now it was different. Holding the two pairs of slippers in Lu Shangyan’s hands, they looked exactly like couple slippers, and the more he looked, the better they seemed.

Pei Yumin’s eyes curved with a smile, completely captivated. “You accommodate me so much.”

Lu Shangyan felt that Pei Yumin’s behavior was strange, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. He simply took a step back, maintaining a slightly more comfortable distance.

Next, he bought new toothbrushes and towels, purchasing almost every usable discounted daily necessity.

Under Pei Yumin’s overly intense gaze, he mostly bought items packaged with two per unit.

Thus, on this ordinary afternoon, Pei Yumin acquired over a dozen items identical to Lu Shangyan’s.

However, contrary to the happiness Pei Yumin displayed, as the shopping cart filled up, Lu Shangyan’s expression grew increasingly sour.

Finally, unable to hold it in, he lowered his eyes and mumbled softly, “We didn’t need to buy any of this.”

“I’ve been using the hotel’s sample toiletries and slippers this whole time, but those things aren’t practical, especially the slippers. They broke three days ago.”

“I originally planned to go back to the dorm to get my old stuff, but Chen Shuo was using my slippers as dart targets! They were already on their last legs, and after a little torture from Chen Shuo, they were completely unusable.”

The smile on Pei Yumin’s face slowly faded. Lu Shangyan worked hard at part-time jobs and earned a good amount of scholarship money. Logically, after deducting living expenses and tuition, his life shouldn’t be this tight.

At the very least, he shouldn’t have to struggle so hard just to save a few yuan.

There was too much about Lu Shangyan that he didn’t know.

Pei Yumin couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you so short on money?”

Lu Shangyan realized he had said too much. Before, no matter how tough things were, he never complained in front of others, but after spending less than a month with Pei Yumin, he couldn’t stop himself.

He immediately clamped his mouth shut, forced a smile, and shook his head. “No, I just can’t stand Chen Shuo. And I already got my revenge. I threw Chen Shuo’s slippers and washbasin into the unflushed toilet in the public restroom.”

After saying this, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but turn up.

He was easily appeased. Before Pei Yumin could adjust his mood, Lu Shangyan had already recovered and walked toward the tissue section, planning to compare prices and buy more toilet paper.

As he was browsing, someone suddenly appeared beside him.

Xia Li had noticed him earlier and, after holding back repeatedly, finally couldn’t resist approaching. She stood next to him and glanced at Pei Yumin, who was pushing the cart behind him.

She lowered her voice and asked, “Did you really move out of the dorm? And are you living with a man?”

Lu Shangyan usually wasn’t good at remembering faces, but if money was involved, he remembered everything clearly.

Before he could speak, he pulled five yuan from behind his phone case. “Here you go.”

Xia Li was about to say it wasn’t necessary, but Pei Yumin had already walked up to him, shoulder-to-shoulder in an intimate posture, and lowered his head to smile at her.

He looked exactly like someone asserting his status as the official partner.

Xia Li felt it was inappropriate to get entangled with Lu Shangyan in front of his cohabiting boyfriend, so she reluctantly accepted the crumpled five yuan note.

Xia Li glanced at Pei Yumin again, and when she spoke, her voice was excited. “So you really like… men!”

She was still addressing Lu Shangyan. Although Lu Shangyan often had no expression and Pei Yumin was always smiling and seemed easy to get along with, she always felt Pei Yumin’s smile was too profound, giving her the chills.

In this situation, the ice-faced Lu Shangyan seemed much gentler. If she was going to gossip, she only dared to approach Lu Shangyan.

Lu Shangyan showed no change in expression and simply nodded in confirmation. “That’s right, I’m gay.”

Pei Yumin secretly gasped, his facial muscles stiffening. In public like this, Lu Shangyan was too bold!

Several people nearby who had heard the sound were already turning their heads to look at him!

Xia Li couldn’t help but slightly open her mouth. After a moment, she closed it. “I apologize for bothering you before. From now on, I will absolutely only treat you as a friend!”

She then excitedly ran off, pulling out her phone to message her friends as she ran:

[Lu Shangyan is not some unattainable high-mountain flower! He’s just an adorable pufferfish! He looks prickly all over, but he’s actually pure and cute!]

Pei Yumin only then spoke up to remind Lu Shangyan, “Are you very familiar with that person just now?”

Lu Shangyan thought for a moment. “Not very. Including just now, I’ve only seen her twice, but we occasionally chat online.”

“She gave me a bottle of drink once. I didn’t have cash, so I asked for her contact information to transfer the money, but she never accepted it.”

Pei Yumin felt his vision go dark. He could imagine Xia Li’s delight when Lu Shangyan asked for her contact information.

She probably thought Lu Shangyan was interested in her too, only to realize he was purely thirsty and genuinely just wanted to transfer money for her water.

Pei Yumin sighed helplessly. “You’ve only met twice, and you told her your sexual orientation? Aren’t you afraid she’ll spread rumors?”

Lu Shangyan frowned. “Even if she tells others, she’d be speaking the truth. I am indeed gay; that’s not spreading rumors.”

“It’s no big deal. The first time I met you, I even slept in the same bed as you.”

Pei Yumin was momentarily speechless. After more than ten seconds, he belatedly said, “That wasn’t the first time we met, it was the third. Our relationship is much closer than yours with her.”

But Lu Shangyan had already gone to the checkout counter and didn’t hear what he said.

They mostly bought discounted products. The comfort level wasn’t high, but considering the price, it was excellent value for money.

Lu Shangyan held the two heavy bags in his hands and paid with the two hundred yuan from behind his phone case.

This money was what Chen Shuo had recently compensated him. He only spent a little over 130 yuan, leaving more than sixty.

That was just enough for them to go eat a meal of spicy hot pot later.

With this calculation, the anger over Chen Shuo using his slippers for dart practice finally subsided.

Pei Yumin watched all of this. He followed closely behind Lu Shangyan, watching his brows furrow and then relax, repeating this several times.

It wasn’t until he turned into a narrow street that his steps became noticeably lighter, and the irritation vanished from his face.

All the buildings on the street looked dilapidated, but the foot traffic was surprisingly high.

Lu Shangyan told him, “There’s a spicy hot pot place here. It’s really good.”

As he spoke, he lightly licked his lips, a movement easily caught by Pei Yumin, whose attention was entirely focused on him.

As they neared the end of the street, Lu Shangyan’s gaze unconsciously bypassed the crowd and looked toward a small shop in the corner.

Pei Yumin followed his line of sight. The four characters on the storefront were faded beyond recognition.

Of the four characters for “Spicy Tribe,” only the character for “Tribe” was still somewhat clear.

Lu Shangyan said, “A shop hidden this far inside that can still attract so many customers must be economically affordable, flavorful, and aromatic—it can’t lack any of those.”

Pei Yumin opened the small door and squeezed in with Lu Shangyan. As they sat down at a sticky small table, he felt Lu Shangyan’s words were absolutely correct.

Only a top-tier foodie like Lu Shangyan could be so adept at discovery.

Lu Shangyan planned to take a little bit of all the dozens of ingredients on the counter, especially the meat.

Pei Yumin had never eaten this before, and just like the last time they had the grilled buffet, he copied Lu Shangyan’s selections.

Lu Shangyan looked at the uniform green vegetables in his bowl. “You need to take more meat. They weigh it by the pound here, and meat and vegetables cost the same.”

Pei Yumin pursed his lips. Watching Lu Shangyan put two frozen shrimp of unknown age into his bowl, he quietly said, “I’ve been eating too well with you recently. I want to eat more vegetables.”

Lu Shangyan acknowledged this. He had indeed been quite capable lately. Pei Yumin, by freeloading meals with him, had actually reached the point of feeling sick at the sight of meat.

Although he felt it was a loss to eat greens, he leaned closer this time and whispered, “Fine, actually, losing a little money is okay.”

The corners of Pei Yumin’s mouth unconsciously lifted. “Lord Lu is truly generous. I want to follow you for life.”

Lu Shangyan emptied all the loose change from his pocket to pay for the meal. His pocket was clean again, but this time he didn’t feel any heartache or distress.

The only change was that the corners of his usually expressionless lips secretly turned up a little.

Pei Yumin helping him find a job meant he could easily finish university.

He thought for a moment and said seriously, “Once I graduate and start working officially, I can treat you to spicy hot pot once a week, and a luxury buffet once a month.”

Pei Yumin mentally clasped his hands together and clapped softly—clapping for a lifetime. He then looked at Lu Shangyan’s lips, which had become plump and moist after drinking water following the spice, and his mind involuntarily recalled the faded sign at the entrance.

This time, he sincerely felt it was quite spicy.

Lu Shangyan ate so much that night that he was too full to lie down. He only settled down after taking two digestive pills.

The next morning, he only drank a cup of red bean soy milk that Pei Yumin had cooled. He still hadn’t finished the spicy tofu-filled bun by the time he reached school.

Just as he was wondering how to deal with the remaining half, Xia Li suddenly slipped in through the back door and sat down next to him.

Lu Shangyan pushed the uneaten half toward her. “Do you want this?”

Xia Li paused, then quickly shook her head. “Are you free right now? I have a question for you.”