ASSHKHME Chapter 113

Chapter 113: Chen Little Zhuo’er~

Fourteen hours later, the plane landed at New York’s Kennedy Airport. It was 8:00 AM New York time, thirteen hours behind Jiangbei.

After claiming his luggage, Chen Zhuo walked out with his three classmates. He immediately spotted Ling Qi, who had dyed his two or three centimeters of buzz cut green, mixed among the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasians.

It seemed that after leaving his parents, he had once again unleashed his true self.

Ling Qi held up a welcome sign in one hand and his phone in the other, smiling brightly: “Hey bros! Welcome to the land of the free, the United States!”

Yang Fan, who had heard Chen Zhuo mention on the plane that someone would be picking them up, waved generously: “No meat! Thank you, thank you!”

Chen Zhuo, who was still immersed in the emotions of parting with Xie Yu, was immediately amused by these two lively characters.

With them around, the next two years wouldn’t be too boring.

Chen Zhuo took out his phone, intending to tell Xie Yu that he had already met Ling Qi, when he heard a familiar voice not far away: “Chen Little Zhuo’er~”

Chen Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then looked up and realized that Ling Qi’s phone screen had been facing him the whole time, and he was currently on a video call with Xie Yu.

It was 9:00 PM on Xie Yu’s side. He was standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, with the brightly lit city of Jiangbei outside.

Across 15,000 kilometers, across the vast Pacific Ocean and a thirteen-hour time difference.

He smiled at Chen Zhuo, who was jogging over, and said playfully, “Good morning, Little Zhuo’er~”

Chen Zhuo excitedly took Ling Qi’s phone. He didn’t know how to express his happiness, and could only smile foolishly at Xie Yu: “How did you… Oh my… You! It’s really you!”

This little surprise was extremely successful. Seeing Chen Zhuo’s excited state, Xie Yu felt secretly pleased and waited smugly with the corners of his mouth upturned for praise.

However, before he could fully enjoy it, another face squeezed into the screen.

Yang Fan greeted him happily: “Xie Yu? Wo de tian! You’re a real stand-up guy! So loyal!”

This kid was squeezing his wife’s face out of the picture!

Xie Yu was speechless! He really wanted to give him two punches!

Fortunately, his childhood friend was quick-witted and quickly pulled the nosy Yang Fan away.

Ling Qi was also a social butterfly. He put his arm around Yang Fan’s shoulder at their first meeting and said enthusiastically, “Brother, let’s go! Did you eat enough on the plane? Let’s go eat first, and after we eat, I’ll take you guys to the school to register. Tell me directly if you want to eat something, don’t be shy!”

Yang Fan said, “Iron pot stewed goose.”

Ling Qi laughed: “Are you sick? Coming to America to eat iron pot stewed goose?”

Yang Fan laughed: “Just kidding, hey, what’s good to eat in New York?”

Chen Zhuo walked behind the crowd, holding Ling Qi’s phone and video chatting with Xie Yu, asking in a low voice, “Did you miss me?”

Xie Yu walked into the bedroom, threw himself on the bed, and hugged Chen Zhuo’s pillow, complaining, “What do you think? Do you even need to ask? Of course, I miss you! Tonight, I have to sleep alone, so empty, so lonely, so cold, I’m so miserable.”

Chen Zhuo was amused by his exaggerated tone, “I miss you too.”

Xie Yu said with satisfaction, “That’s more like it.”

Xie Yu was worried that Chen Zhuo wouldn’t be able to get used to the food and accommodations, so he asked Ling Qi to rent a small apartment near the school and even booked a chef to cook Chinese food.

In order to prevent Chen Zhuo from feeling lonely and isolated, he even generously considered inviting Yang Fan to live with Chen Zhuo.

However, this painstaking effort was directly rejected by Chen Zhuo without a second thought.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected. Xie Yu could understand why Chen Zhuo refused, but he still felt a little hurt.

Xie Yu buried half of his face in Chen Zhuo’s pillow and said in a muffled voice, “Isn’t it a matter of course to provide a better living and learning environment for your lover within my capabilities? I understand what you mean. You feel like you’re spending my parents’ money now, but sometimes that’s not how it works… You always separate yourself from me so clearly, and I’m not happy.”

Chen Zhuo felt that Xie Yu was like a puppy in urgent need of his owner’s comfort, with his ears and tail drooping. He really wanted to pat Xie Yu’s head.

“Don’t be unhappy. I’m here to study, not to enjoy life. Besides, the school has assigned us dorms, two people in a room, and the conditions are very good. Moreover, prices abroad are higher than in China, and everything costs US dollars. The rent must be expensive, so save it. If I really don’t adapt, I’ll tell you.”

Xie Yu sighed, very helpless: “Chen Zhuo, sometimes I don’t know how to treat you well. You’ll be honest after eating bread, pasta, and mashed potatoes for a week.”

“I want you to be happy. If you feel uncomfortable, then forget it. I’m not by your side, so take care of yourself. If you need anything, find Qi, he’s always available.”

Ling Qi, who was opening the trunk in front, sneezed.

Chen Zhuo laughed and said to Xie Yu, “I know how good you are to me, don’t worry, I’ll take good care of myself.”

Xie Yu poked Chen Zhuo’s face through the screen and complained, “I don’t want you to know I’m good to you, I want you to accept my kindness, you stubborn mule.”

Yang Fan’s voice came from the phone: “Zhuo’er, hurry up, Qi-ge is treating us to dinner.”

Chen Zhuo replied, “Okay! Coming!”

He said to Xie Yu, “Then I’ll hang up first? You didn’t get much sleep yesterday, did you? It’s getting late, so go to bed early today. When you wake up, it’ll probably be 7 or 8 PM here, and we can chat then.”

Xie Yu reluctantly kissed him several times through the screen before hanging up the video.

The world became quiet. When he lived alone before, he didn’t feel that the house was empty.

He had only lived with Chen Zhuo for a short time, and suddenly being left alone, Xie Yu felt empty inside.

He missed Chen Little Zhuo’er.

—

Xu Qingyou received two WeChat messages before going to bed.

One was from Chen Zhuo: [Brother, I’ve landed safely in New York, finished registering at school, and just completed the dormitory check-in procedures. I’m now heading to the international student apartment. Don’t worry about me, I’ll take good care of myself. Brother, please take care of yourself too.]

The other was from Dr. Ling, very short: [Mr. Xu, good night.]

Xu Qingyou replied “Okay” to Chen Zhuo and sent a contact card.

[Harold is a good friend I met during my studies. He currently works in New York. I told him you’re my brother, and you can seek his help if you need anything.]

Chen Zhuo replied quickly: [Thank you, brother, you’re always worrying about me. Get some rest too, good night.]

Xu Qingyou leaned against the headboard, took off his glasses, and rubbed his forehead.

Although he no longer harbored obsessions about Chen Zhuo, it was not easy to completely let go of this feeling that was almost engraved in his bones. He himself didn’t know when he would be able to do it.

As the listener who had heard his entire story, Xu Qingyou believed that Ling Xu was also very clear about this fact.

Adults were good at analyzing the pros and cons. In this situation, he should immediately cut his losses. Therefore, Xu Qingyou didn’t understand why Ling Xu would express such strong affection for him.

Did he think it was fun? But Ling Xu was five years older than him and shouldn’t be as naive and reckless as Xie Yu.

In the end, Xu Qingyou, as always, didn’t reply to Ling Xu, hoping that he would give up.