The Flower Of The High Mountain Is Pregnant With The Son Of The Sand Sculpture Ceo Chapter 42

Chapter 42 I Want to Kiss You, Do You Agree?

Zhao Gui had been a chronic alcoholic in his youth, but ever since the “manslaughter” incident, he hadn’t dared to touch a drop. The charge weighed heavily on him, crushing him so he could never stand up straight again.

But returning to Sui County this time, his back was straighter than it had been in the past decade: “I knew it, I wasn’t wrong back then!”

He just wanted to clear his name quickly. He thought about everything he saw before he fainted that day countless times. When the police questioned him this time, he could recount everything clearly, leaving no room for doubt.

Lu Shangyan was too young ten years ago, so Zhao Gui didn’t remember much about him, but he remembered everything his uncle and aunt had done to him over the years.

Stepping out of the police station, he let out a long breath, feeling a lightness he had never experienced before.

When he came back to his senses, he was standing on a high platform and saw someone he hadn’t seen in a long time: his second uncle, Lu He.

His second aunt had said years ago that Lu He was working out of town and had vanished without a trace, maybe even died!

Her tone was full of uncontrollable resentment and curses, showing no sign of familial affection.

Lu He had lost a lot of weight, and his face lacked spirit. He didn’t dare look directly into Lu Shangyan’s eyes, yet he approached Lu Shangyan without hesitation.

Only when he reached the last step did he speak slowly, feigning ease: “You’ve grown so big.”

He raised his hand, and just as it was about to touch Lu Shangyan’s cheek, Lu Shangyan slightly turned his head, dodging the touch.

Lu He knew everything about what happened back then, and he understood Lu Shangyan’s hatred for him.

A bitter smile appeared on his face. After a long pause, he said, “You’ve had a hard time recently. I admit I was a coward who only knew how to run, but I won’t run away this time.”

His gaze shifted to Pei Yumin beside him, but his words were directed at Lu Shangyan: “This time, I will give you back the whole truth.”

Lu Shangyan had been through too much recently. At this moment, he no longer wanted to cry, and there was nothing left worth crying over.

Even though the person in front of him hadn’t endlessly demanded things from him like others had over the years, he still couldn’t forgive him. An awakening that came so many years late was not truly an awakening to him.

Lu Shangyan didn’t spare him another glance, walking past him expressionlessly.

Pei Yumin did not interfere with his choice. He wouldn’t help forgive someone Lu Shangyan didn’t forgive. He only needed to be Lu Shangyan’s sharp blade, believing in him above all else, helping him cut through every impossibility—that was enough.

Pei Yumin said, “It won’t be long before everything comes to light.”

Lu Shangyan hadn’t expected that the matter that had tormented him for over a decade would be resolved so simply. Hearing Pei Yumin’s voice, he turned to look at him, and another voice in his heart told him that perhaps it wasn’t simple at all; it was only because of Pei Yumin, and so many people helping him, that it seemed so easy.

He curved his lips, letting out a short, light chuckle, and stretched his neck: “That’s great.”

Though the weather was so hot it was hard to keep his eyes open, he felt exceptionally refreshed today.

He looked at Pei Yumin next to him: “How about I treat you all to dinner tonight? I’m about to become rich, after all.”

Pei Yumin immediately chimed in: “Wow, my sugar daddy is asking to be kept.”

Lu Shangyan slightly raised his chin, his expression unchanged, but his eyes held a hint of pride. Seeing him like this, Pei Yumin knew that the old Lu Shangyan was back.

“We’ll see how you perform.”

Pei Yumin leaned in, draping himself bonelessly onto Lu Shangyan’s shoulder: “Your humble servant will serve you well.”

Then he pretended to be seductive, running his hand up and down Lu Shangyan’s back: “However you want me to serve you, I will. I can even warm your bed tonight~”

Lu Shangyan pressed his index finger against Pei Yumin’s forehead, pushing him away slightly: “The highest temperature today is thirty-three degrees.”

Pei Yumin quickly changed his tune: “Then your humble servant will serve you a bath tonight.”

Lu Shangyan couldn’t take it anymore: “Can you please be normal?”

Pei Yumin hugged his arm, rubbing his well-trained chest and arm muscles against him: “Doesn’t my sugar daddy like me like this?”

He was extremely confident in his muscles! When he went out with Tang Suichen before, many people complimented him.

But Lu Shangyan looked even more expressionless, even a little speechless. He struggled to pull his hand away and rushed to the car to message Zhao Jian and the others.

Pei Yumin: “…”

The fact that this move didn’t work was a huge blow to him, especially since this technique was personally taught to him by the seasoned playboy, Tang Suichen!

It seemed his Lu Shangyan couldn’t be pleased by conventional means.

Sure enough, the person he liked had such unique and distinctive tastes.

Lu Shangyan had no idea what he was thinking. After he got into the car, he instructed Pei Yumin to drive back to the old house first.

He would be rich soon, and the old house might finally get a complete renovation. He wouldn’t have to settle for less due to other considerations.

With the burden lifted, perhaps he could finally enjoy life properly.

The promise he made long ago—to treat Pei Yumin to spicy hot pot for a lifetime and many expensive self-serve barbecues—might actually come true.

Pei Yumin kept stealing glances at him, afraid that the relief Lu Shangyan showed after leaving the police station was just an act. But seeing no trace of sadness in his eyes the entire way, he temporarily believed that everything was real.

They didn’t spend too long working. When Lu Shangyan came out, he was covered in sweat. While washing his face, he said, “Forget it, I’ve decided that after they return the money, I’ll hire professional cleaners to clean the place, and then completely redecorate the entire house.”

After speaking, he added silently with determined eyes: “This time, I have money.”

He did have money, but the investigation had just begun, and many key figures only returned today. It would still take a long time from the start of the trial to its conclusion.

Pei Yumin estimated that even if he found extra ways to speed things up, it would take half a month to finish, and the money Lu Shangyan put up might not leave much left over.

Lu Shangyan was aware of this: “If they don’t pay it back, I’ll sell their house.”

Pei Yumin was delighted: “Yes, that’s how it should be. Don’t give an inch.”

He turned to grab a tissue for Lu Shangyan to wipe his face, noticing a box filled with things that Lu Shangyan was about to take.

“What’s all this?”

He reached out, but Lu Shangyan grabbed his hand with his wet one: “You can’t look yet.”

Pei Yumin was very curious and wanted to sneak a peek when Lu Shangyan wasn’t looking, but he couldn’t disobey Lu Shangyan now. After all, he was still in the courtship phase and had to show one hundred percent sincerity, avoiding anything that might make Lu Shangyan unhappy.

This was a basic requirement for a qualified male.

He silently convinced himself, then continued to fetch water and hand tissues to Lu Shangyan: “Let’s build a grape trellis in the yard. We can eat all-natural grapes later.”

Lu Shangyan adopted the air of a big farm owner: “Want to eat them? Then build it.”

–

For dinner that evening, Pei Yumin matched his outfit to what Lu Shangyan was wearing. Since he didn’t have a light blue short-sleeved shirt, he wore a shirt with a blue pattern on the left chest.

When they arrived at the restaurant, he kept intentionally puffing out his chest so they could see the pattern.

Zhao Jian’s eyes shifted repeatedly. Finally, he couldn’t pretend not to see it anymore, or Pei Yumin would poke his eye out! He didn’t want to get a sty.

So he said disdainfully, “Why are you puffing out your chest? It’s so big, going through a second puberty?”

The smile vanished from Pei Yumin’s face. He pointed at Lu Shangyan, then at the little shark pattern on his own chest, his face wooden and slightly menacing: “Couple’s outfit!”

Zhao Jian had spent a lot of time with Shi Yu, and perhaps by osmosis, he could tell at a glance that Pei Yumin’s seemingly unremarkable short-sleeved shirt was a custom-made item from a major brand. The chest pattern was self-designed, and one shirt cost over eight thousand yuan! It bore absolutely no resemblance to a couple’s outfit with Lu Shangyan’s shirt, which cost less than twenty yuan!

Zhao Jian: “…”

Zhao Jian said, “If you want to claim you’re wearing a couple’s outfit, you should at least make his shirt cost eight thousand yuan too, right?”

Pei Yumin’s attempt to show off was completely ruined. He lowered his eyes and stood next to Lu Shangyan again. Lu Shangyan was waiting for someone and hadn’t heard their conversation. He only knew that Pei Yumin looked dejected when he returned, and looking at Zhao Jian nearby, standing with his hands on his hips and his head held high, he looked like a Chihuahua bullying a Golden Retriever.

Lu Shangyan couldn’t help but pat his head.

Pei Yumin immediately perked up. Now he had something else to show off. He turned his head, sticking his neck out, and looked smugly at Zhao Jian.

Zhao Jian shrugged, disdaining to argue about such trivial things.

Pei Yumin said, “Tang Suichen and Dai Qin are already sitting in the private room upstairs. Who are you still waiting for out here?”

Zhao Jian was about to head upstairs, but then he heard Lu Shangyan say, “Zhou Keling. He’s helping his sister close up her stall, but it’s this late, so he should be here soon.”

Pei Yumin gritted his teeth, feeling utterly superfluous for asking!

This was their “celebration dinner.” Every one of them had done a lot and contributed significant effort.

What had that Zhou Keling done? Why did he deserve to be at their table! Why did he get to eat with them!

Thinking this, Pei Yumin was incredibly awkward. Zhao Jian, fearing things weren’t chaotic enough, deliberately walked over to twist the knife: “Pei Yumin, why is your face so red? Did you get heatstroke?”

Pei Yumin glared back, pretending to be earnest: “What does the heat matter? Being with Shangyan is what’s most important. If I were the invited person, I would never make Shangyan wait this long.”

Zhao Jian pouted and walked away without looking back, his steps deliberately slow. He wanted to see just how far Pei Yumin could keep up the act!

When Zhou Keling arrived, Pei Yumin nearly exploded!

Because they were wearing the exact same color clothes!

As soon as the private room door opened, Zhao Jian, who was drinking tea, instantly put down his cup and winked at Pei Yumin, mouthing meaningfully: “Couple’s outfit.”

Pei Yumin couldn’t argue with him, so he simply pretended not to see him and ignored him.

Zhou Keling sat down next to Lu Shangyan, on his right.

Pei Yumin had originally intended to sit on his right! Now the spot was taken, and he hadn’t managed to beat Zhou Keling to it—it was unforgivable!

But he couldn’t grab Zhou Keling and toss him onto an empty seat in front of Lu Shangyan, so he had to endure it. He had no choice but to look at Zhao Jian.

Since Zhao Jian was sitting on Lu Shangyan’s left, he had to secure that spot. He couldn’t lose to Zhou Keling in seating right from the start, or he wouldn’t be able to eat a single bite tonight!

But Zhao Jian, the sly fox, pretended not to see his eye signals at that moment, just innocently holding his cup and drinking water.

Lu Shangyan had no idea that Pei Yumin was secretly treating this dinner as a battle for love. He urged him, “There’s a spot next to Tang Suichen.”

The small private room in the county town wasn’t large. Although he was about to be rich, given his current finances, he couldn’t book a huge room.

Pei Yumin stood there, looking cramped; he could almost touch the ceiling if he raised his hand.

Zhou Keling glanced at him and started talking to Lu Shangyan: “Do you still remember this restaurant? We came here together in high school, but the old owner got old, and now it’s run by his son.”

The restaurant wasn’t big. The kitchen only had two people, the owner and a helper, plus a cashier and three servers, all family members.

They mainly sold stone pot fish, and after eating the fish, you could blanch other meats and vegetables.

Lu Shangyan had eaten there once before, and the taste had stayed with him until now. Of course, it might also be because he never had the chance or the money to eat there again, so he kept remembering the best thing he had ever eaten.

He handed the menu to Zhao Jian and asked Zhou Keling, “Have you tried the fish the new owner makes? How does it taste?”

Zhou Keling shook his head: “I heard from others that the owner changed. After eating here with you last time, I never came back. I just wanted to wait for a chance to come with you again.”

“We made a promise back then. I treated you last time, and you would treat me once later. I always remembered that and waited until now.”

Lu Shangyan said, “You’re really loyal.”

Zhao Jian suddenly realized: “No wonder Zhou Keling is here today.”

After meeting last time, Zhou Keling and Zhao Jian exchanged contact information and became quite familiar. Hearing Zhao Jian’s comment, Zhou Keling could joke back with a smile: “What, can’t I come?”

Zhao Jian said, “Of course I welcome you, but I don’t know what a certain someone is thinking.”

When Lu Shangyan came back to his senses, he realized that Pei Yumin had somehow moved to his left side, and Zhao Jian had switched to the adjacent seat.

Meeting his gaze, Pei Yumin immediately smiled innocently: “Of course I welcome him. The only one who doesn’t welcome him is Tang Suichen. He’s going through a divorce right now and is in a terrible mood.”

Tang Suichen, who was watching the drama unfold, was suddenly thrown under the bus: “I will never get divorced in my life! Stop cursing me!”

Pei Yumin pretended not to hear his rebuttal and continued to look at Lu Shangyan with a smile: “I just didn’t realize you two had so many promises.”

“Last time at the temple fair, you and Shangyan left together. I waited for him at the hotel for a long time.”

Zhou Keling sensed the threat again: “Is that so?”

Pei Yumin nodded, then continued, “After all, it was very late. It would be one thing if we weren’t sleeping together, but since we were, as soon as I saw the empty bed, I knew he hadn’t returned. I was so worried.”

He deliberately said they slept together, not even mentioning that there were two beds, just to make people misunderstand. He especially wanted a certain person to know that his relationship with Lu Shangyan was extremely intimate, far beyond what this “class monitor” who hadn’t been seen in years could compare to.

But Zhou Keling didn’t take the bait: “No wonder you were worried. Shangyan was very busy at the time and couldn’t answer your calls.”

“If he had answered, it might have been better, but his hands were tied then, so he couldn’t tend to you. Later, his phone even died. I offered to find a charger so he could call you back, but he was only focused on helping me then and wouldn’t let me go look.”

Pei Yumin was grinding his teeth in anger, yet he had to squint and smile, pretending to be harmless: “What was he helping you with?”

Zhao Jian couldn’t help but interject: “You’re being ambiguous, you know. Saying it like that, people might think he was helping you in bed.”

Pei Yumin had also understood the implication of Zhou Keling’s words, but he hadn’t asked so directly like Zhao Jian. He knew that if he asked, he would fall completely into Zhou Keling’s trap. But he hadn’t expected Zhao Jian to ask everything so bluntly!

As a result, the situation was now extremely unfavorable for him!

He turned to stare at Zhao Jian, his former “relationship guru,” and asked in a low voice, “Whose side are you on!”

Zhao Jian was unconcerned, replying in a voice only they could hear: “Don’t you want to know? I’m just trying to help you get a clear answer.”

Pei Yumin was actually a little expectant now and stared intently at Lu Shangyan.

He didn’t believe Zhou Keling; he only believed Lu Shangyan.

But Lu Shangyan said, “What he said is true. We were indeed on a bed at the time, and I really didn’t have the time to answer…”

Before he could finish, Pei Yumin couldn’t listen anymore. He abruptly stood up, turned, and walked out.

With things said to this extent, there was no point in him staying.

Lu Shangyan was confused and quickly chased after him, but Pei Yumin ran extremely fast. Lu Shangyan called out several times, but he didn’t stop.

It wasn’t until the stairwell corner, where the stairs were very narrow, allowing only one person to pass, that someone came up. Pei Yumin couldn’t go down and paused for a moment at the corner, allowing Lu Shangyan to finally catch him.

Lu Shangyan frowned and asked, “What’s wrong? You just left without saying a word.”

He grabbed Pei Yumin’s arm, making him turn around. The moment he saw his face, he realized Pei Yumin was actually angry, but he had no idea why.

If it were anyone else, Lu Shangyan would be too lazy to ask or care. Even if there was a misunderstanding, he wouldn’t bother to resolve it. If they couldn’t be friends anymore, so be it.

But the person opposite him was Pei Yumin. Seeing Pei Yumin like this made him feel a little anxious: “What exactly is wrong? Are you angry?”

Pei Yumin had always been cheerful and carefree around him, occasionally acting like a jerk or being playful. He didn’t think he had ever seen Pei Yumin lose his temper at him. Even when Pei Yumin was angry, it was directed at others.

This was the first time he was angry at him.

Realizing this, Lu Shangyan gripped his arm even harder, as if afraid he might slip away again.

But this was also his first time experiencing this, and he felt a little flustered. He asked in a stiff voice, “If there’s a problem, we need to solve it. Don’t just stay silent.”

Pei Yumin raised his eyelids, his breathing shaky. He knew Lu Shangyan needed protection most right now, and losing his temper at him at this moment was wrong.

But he just couldn’t help it.

“Have you ever considered me at all?”

Lu Shangyan was stunned: “What do you mean by that?”

There were many people eating right now, and someone else came up the stairs during their conversation. Since the restaurant wasn’t big, people downstairs could see them talking in this spot, and some were already openly sitting there watching the show.

Lu Shangyan just wanted to resolve the issue quickly. He had no choice but to grab Pei Yumin’s arm and forcefully drag him into an empty private room nearby.

Seeing Pei Yumin still looking downcast and uninterested, he asked again, “What exactly do you mean?”

His tone was urgent, forcing Pei Yumin to instinctively look up at him: “You know I like you, yet you talk about being on the same bed with him right in front of me.”

“No matter how much I like you, I can’t handle that. I’m not so generous that I can calmly accept the person I like being on a bed with another man!”

Lu Shangyan blinked, his mind blank for a moment. It took him a long time to recover: “Didn’t I tell you? The reason I was with him was because we were repairing a bed, not doing… the kind of thing you’re imagining.”

He finished with difficulty, then heard Pei Yumin raise his voice: “Repairing a bed? What kind of bed were you repairing!”

Lu Shangyan explained, “In high school, the school organized a social practice activity where we had to regularly volunteer at nursing homes and nearby orphanages. At the time, no one wanted to be in a group with me except him. Over time, we became friends. He was essentially my only friend in high school.”

“In the second half of senior year, studies were too busy, so the school stopped the volunteer work, but we promised to visit the orphanage whenever we had time.”

“You know I’m practically an orphan, so I… when he brought it up a few days ago, I didn’t think much of it and went with him. I really miss the children there too.”

“At the time, many of the older children didn’t have enough beds, so he moved an old bed from his house over. We were just repairing that bed. I was afraid we wouldn’t finish before their bedtime, so I was busy and didn’t have time to return your call.”

“If I had known you would think this way, I definitely would have called you back.”

Pei Yumin listened to his lengthy explanation, and his face flushed. Lu Shangyan grew increasingly hesitant to look him in the eye, finally lowering his head.

“Why did you run just now? You should have just asked me directly.”

Pei Yumin felt that Lu Shangyan cared about him more than he had imagined.

Although this was another inappropriate time and place, he couldn’t help himself again: “Then I’ll ask you now. I want to kiss you, do you agree?”