Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 34

Invitation

Jiang Zhou went back to his room to wash up.

When he came out, he saw that Shen Zhiyu had, as usual, sent him a selfie.

Shen Zhiyu had also just finished washing up, wearing a loose bathrobe tied around his waist. The neckline was low, revealing beautiful lines.

The moisture from his shower hadn’t dried yet; his cheeks and neck seemed shrouded in a layer of mist, hazy and alluring.

Jiang Zhou looked at the selfie and fell into deep thought.

Shen Zhiyu’s rescue seemed to be straying further and further off course.

The so-called punishment kiss, and the teasing kiss in the morning… all reminded Jiang Zhou that this didn’t seem to be the simple rescue he had understood. It seemed to be mixed with some emotions he hadn’t yet sorted out.

For the first time, Jiang Zhou felt a sense of powerlessness.

He couldn’t understand or predict Shen Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhou politely replied with a thank-you emoji and saved the photo.

The guests were sharing photos of the sunrise and group pictures from the day in the group chat.

Jiang Zhou saved every photo related to Shen Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhou thought for a moment and sent a message to Yuan Chong.

“Are you free to come record the show tomorrow?”

Jiang Zhou didn’t have the habit of going back to sleep; once he was awake, it was hard to fall asleep again.

He spent the entire morning dealing with work, and only received Yuan Chong’s reply after he had finished making lunch.

“Of course. If you call me, I’m definitely free.”

He replied with a voice message, his voice hoarse and dry. Having known him for so many years, Jiang Zhou knew instantly that he hadn’t been up to anything good last night.

When Jiang Zhou received the message, no one else had arrived at the dining room yet. His phone was on the dining table, playing on speaker.

Jiang Zhou set the bowls and chopsticks, and when he looked up, he met Shen Zhiyu’s gaze.

His gaze was somewhat cold and heavy, carrying an undeniable interrogation.

Under that almost scrutinizing look, Jiang Zhou proactively spoke, “I invited a friend to experience life in Peach Blossom Village.”

Yesterday, all the guests had received a notification from the production team that for the last three days of filming, guests could invite their friends and family to experience life in Peach Blossom Village.

Shen Zhiyu didn’t say anything. He pulled out a chair and sat down, then sent a message to Lu Shen.

“Did you sleep with him last night?”

Lu Shen quickly replied with a simple ‘Yes’.

Shen Zhiyu snorted coldly.

This Yuan Chong was truly a master of time management.

He slept with Lu Shen last night, and now he was sending such an ambiguous message back to Jiang Zhou. Perhaps he even sent the message right in front of Lu Shen.

Shen Zhiyu glanced at Jiang Zhou unexpectedly, letting out an almost imperceptible sigh.

What an utterly hopeless little fool.

Jiang Zhou thought he wanted soup and quickly ladled him a bowl.

“This fish was just caught this morning by the villagers. It’s very plump and delicious, you should try it.”

And a virtuous, helpful fool at that.

Shen Zhiyu took the soup, unable to stop himself from muttering internally.

Shen Zhiyu sent another message to Lu Shen. “Come to Peach Blossom Village and join me on the show.”

Lu Shen: “?”

Shen Zhiyu: “Compensation.”

Yuan Chong had finished washing up and came out of the bathroom.

He wasn’t wearing clothes; his muscle definition was clear, and several bright scratch marks were visible on his bare chest and abdomen, suggesting how intense the battle had been last night.

Lu Shen was startled by his openness and gasped. “Why aren’t you wearing clothes?”

Yuan Chong walked toward him nonchalantly, picking up the clothes scattered on the floor and putting them on one by one without a care.

“Haven’t you seen everything already?”

“I don’t mind, why are you shy?”

Yuan Chong finished dressing as if no one else was there.

The person on the bed had already shrunk into a quail, burying his head under the covers.

Yuan Chong glanced at him, initially intending to leave, but somehow, a playful urge arose.

He walked to the bedside, reached out a large hand, and scooped up both the person and the blanket into his arms.

The person inside the blanket was suffocating and struggled to poke his head out.

His face was flushed red from being held under, and crystal tears still hung in the corners of his eyes.

For some reason, Yuan Chong felt a sudden stirring in his heart when he saw those tears.

He raised his right hand, cupped Lu Shen’s chin to pull him forward, and then licked the tears away, moving from left to right, little by little.

Warm breath traced the line of Lu Shen’s brow bone all the way down, finally landing on his soft lips.

The gentle biting intensity pulled his soul into a downward spiral. In the entanglement, Lu Shen tasted the saltiness of his own tears.

He didn’t know how much time passed until the urgent ring of a phone broke the silence.

Yuan Chong released him, looked at the caller ID, and his expression was full of regret.

“I have to go. I’ll make it up to you next time.”

Lu Shen was panting, experiencing the dizziness of a narrow escape.

Yuan Chong left.

Lu Shen picked up his phone and realized that during the chaos, he had accidentally touched the screen and sent a long voice message to Shen Zhiyu.

Shen Zhiyu innocently clicked on the voice message.

The suggestive sounds leaked out close to his ear, instantly burning Shen Zhiyu’s ears red.

This Lu Shen!

How could he send him such a terrible thing!

Before Shen Zhiyu could judge him, the voice message was recalled.

Shen Zhiyu: “I already heard it. My ears are dirty.”

Lu Shen: “[Embarrassed] When are you coming over?”

“Tomorrow morning.” After a moment of thought, Shen Zhiyu still asked, “Are you serious?”

Considering the Lu family, it was unlikely they would accept their son’s orientation, and even less likely they would accept Yuan Chong, a bar owner.

“I’m leaving Haishi next month.”

Shen Zhiyu understood and didn’t reply further.

—

Some guests invited their friends, and others invited their family members, making Peach Blossom Village instantly more lively.

During the day, everyone took their friends and family to experience various activities, agreeing to gather together again in the evening.

Yuan Chong arrived around one o’clock. Before he even got there, he had already messaged Jiang Zhou to order his meal.

The other guests were all cooking in their respective courtyards with their friends and family today.

Jiang Zhou prepared lunch for the four people in their courtyard.

Shen Zhiyu and Lu Shen spent the morning reading in the reading room.

Jiang Zhou finished cooking and sent a message to Shen Zhiyu.

Yuan Chong arrived at Yongnan Village carrying large bags. He first went to the Jiang family to pay his respects to Jiang Hua before finally arriving late.

Jiang Zhou met him at the west corner gate.

Yuan Chong kept praising everything as he walked.

“Little Zhou Zhou, your show is great!”

“They managed to fix up this dilapidated walled house like this?”

“It really must be the power of money!”

Jiang Zhou led him directly to the dining room.

Shen Zhiyu and Lu Shen had already arrived.

Seeing Yuan Chong, Lu Shen unnaturally averted his gaze.

Yuan Chong, however, was completely at ease and greeted both of them.

“Mr. Shen, Mr. Lu, long time no see.”

Since everyone knew each other, there was no need for a formal introduction.

Yuan Chong sat down at the dining table and was delighted when he saw the food.

“Little Zhou Zhou treats me the best. I said I wanted to eat tea-leaf fried crispy bones, and you made it for me.”

Yuan Chong deliberately showed off.

Shen Zhiyu calmly picked up a piece with his chopsticks.

“Mr. Yuan, you just arrived, so you wouldn’t know. This is a regular dish in our home; we have it every day.”

The air was inexplicably filled with a scent of gunpowder.

Lu Shen also picked up a piece with his chopsticks. “Ah, then it seems this is CEO Jiang’s specialty. I must try it properly.”

After eating one piece, he took another and praised, “It’s delicious indeed! No wonder everyone loves it!”

Jiang Zhou smiled awkwardly, “Yes, everyone really likes this dish.”

The four of them finished lunch, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Yuan Chong was tired and asked Jiang Zhou, “Where am I staying?”

He had gone to Yun City yesterday to handle some business, hadn’t slept all night, and then went to bail someone out early this morning. After finishing his work in the morning, he rushed over, only managing to nap for a little while on the road. Coupled with fighting too late the night before, even an iron man couldn’t handle it, and his eyelids were fighting to stay open now.

“You can stay in my room,” Jiang Zhou said.

Youran Residence only had three rooms. He and Shen Zhiyu each occupied one, and now with two extra people, there weren’t enough rooms.

Since they had invited their friends, it wouldn’t be right to make them stay outside Youran Residence, nor was it possible to make Yuan Chong and Lu Shen share a room.

Jiang Zhou had asked the production team to replace the bed in his bedroom with two twin beds. He was familiar with Yuan Chong, having shared a dorm room before, so staying together was fine.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, two voices of opposition immediately rang out.

“No.”

“That’s not good.”

Jiang Zhou: “?”

Shen Zhiyu clearly articulated his reasoning, “Mr. Yuan and Lu Shen are both guests. How can we make our guests uncomfortable when we invite them to visit?”

“With this arrangement, Lu Shen won’t feel comfortable taking a room by himself either.”

Lu Shen nodded in agreement, following Shen Zhiyu’s words, “Yes, I would feel too awkward staying alone like that.”

Lu Shen’s last sentence slipped out too quickly, and he regretted it the moment he said it. He had no standing to say it wasn’t good; there was only one night of pleasure between him and Yuan Chong. But they were all adults, and when something like that happened without a confirmed relationship, everyone should understand not to cling to it.

Jiang Zhou hadn’t considered this aspect.

Hearing them, he also felt he had been inconsiderate, inadvertently putting Lu Shen in an awkward position.

“How about this…”

“Jiang Zhou and I share a room, Lu Shen takes my room, and Mr. Yuan takes one room.”

“No!” Another voice of opposition.

This time it was Yuan Chong who objected.

If Jiang Zhou and Shen Zhiyu shared a room, based on the price Jiang Zhou had to pay in the past, he was afraid Jiang Zhou would castrate himself the next day.

The risk was too great.

Unexpectedly, such a serious disagreement arose over the issue of room assignments.

With one person objecting, then another objecting.

Finally, Yuan Chong suggested, “How about this: Lu Shen and I share a room.”

They had already slept together anyway; one or two more nights wouldn’t make a difference.

Everyone: “?”

Yuan Chong: “Lu Shen and I know each other. It’s fine for us to share a room.” He looked at Lu Shen. “Do you agree?”

This seemed like the optimal solution.

Lu Shen nodded: “I have no objection.”

Back at Youran Residence, they moved the twin beds that had just been brought into Jiang Zhou’s bedroom into the other room.

For the last two days of filming, the production team removed the cameras from every courtyard, only filming interactions in other public areas, giving the guests ample space for private conversations.

Yuan Chong was truly exhausted and fell asleep the moment he touched the bed.

Lu Shen was afraid of disturbing him and went to the living room.

Shen Zhiyu was assembling Lego in the living room. Lu Shen walked over and started assembling with him.

Shen Zhiyu didn’t even look up, warning, “Behave yourself tonight.”

Lu Shen was a little embarrassed, “That voice message was truly an accident.”

Shen Zhiyu tossed the piece he was holding, looked up at Lu Shen, his eyes full of confusion and incomprehension.

“Is that Yuan Chong really that good?”

“How do I compare to him?”