TRMLCM Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Deception?

Chapter 16: Deception?

In the quiet morning, warm sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, scattering starlight-like spots of light on the floor.

The long, even breathing became hurried, indicating that the person in bed had woken up. Shen Chang’an opened his eyelids, revealing still-sleepy eyes, and stared blankly at the ceiling. After a few seconds, his thoughts slowly returned. He moved, ready to get out of bed, but suddenly stopped.

“…”

Feeling the discomfort below, Shen Chang’an abruptly threw back the covers, a look of astonishment on his face. He got up and walked expressionlessly towards the bathroom.

“Meow~”

Berber, curled up in its cat bed not far away, heard the noise and slightly raised its head, its eyes looking at Shen Chang’an, as if wondering why the two-legged creature hadn’t come to hug it first thing this morning.

If it didn’t come, it didn’t come, it laid back down, squinting its eyes comfortably, about to fall back asleep, when its ears twitched. It raised its head again, pricked up its ears, and looked towards the bathroom.

Had the two-legged creature fallen down?

Berber got up and walked to the bathroom door. The next second, the sound of rushing water rang out, completely covering up the noises from inside the bathroom. Looking at the closed door, it tilted its head in confusion.

“Meow~”

After showering, Shen Chang’an changed his clothes. Then, he took off the dirty old sheets and duvet cover, threw them into the washing machine, and came back to put on new ones.

He picked up his phone and glanced at the time, a little after eight in the morning. He sent a message to Cheng Yi, and as he got up and walked out of the room, he glanced at the door that was already open not far away. He closed his bedroom door and turned to walk into the kitchen.

After casually flipping open the lid of the dining table, he walked to the stove. A bowl of egg fried rice was carefully covered in the pot, still warm.

Shen Chang’an took the bowl out, ate a simple breakfast, washed the bowl, and put it back in the cupboard. He turned around, grabbed his keys and phone, and went out.

…

“…Hoo”

Cheng Yi woke up…

He had another good night’s sleep last night, this feeling of being well-rested was really comfortable.

He sat up in bed, swept the messy hair out of his eyes, and lazily stretched.

He picked up the phone beside him, and there were a lot of red dots on WeChat again.

Especially in his and He Zhou’s group chat, the messages were 99+ again, the times all being two or three in the morning, the latest message being at six in the morning.

They had been playing all night.

Cheng Yi went back to the chat list and looked at the message at the very top.

08:23

[Little Fox: Brother Yi, good morning]

[Little Fox: Good morning (animated emoji)]

When Cheng Yi saw the message, he subconsciously smiled first, then frowned.

How many times has this happened?

Why does Little Fox always send him messages like this?

Is this how friends interact…?

Cheng Yi clicked on He Zhou’s chat interface, a whole string of messages were asking him to go out and play, but there wasn’t a single one of these kind of good morning greetings.

Cheng Yi didn’t believe it, and opened the chat interfaces of Lin Zhihao, Mu Feng, Gu Nancheng…none of them had ever sent anything like that.

Heh, plastic brotherhood.

10:34

[Cy: Morning]

A few seconds later, a message came back from the other side.

[Little Fox: Did Brother Yi just wake up?]

[Cy: Yeah]

[Little Fox: The weather is very good today]

[Little Fox: Picture]

The picture was of a lush tree at the corner of a wall. The bright sunlight pierced through the layers of leaves, forming clusters of bright beams shining on the ground.

[Cy: Are you outside?]

[Little Fox: Yes, I have something to do outside recently]

Cheng Yi walked to the French window and casually pulled open the thick curtains. Looking at the weather outside, he subconsciously frowned.

His city was brightly lit by the sun,

While his city… was overcast and rainy.

…

15:14

[He Zhou: !]

[He Zhou: Bro, were you hacked?]

[He Zhou: Or were you kidnapped?]

[Cy: ?]

[Cy: Idiot]

He Zhou:……

Okay, confirmed it’s him.

[He Zhou: Bro, don’t blame me for talking nonsense, why did you suddenly send me a message like that?]

[Cy: ?]

[Cy: What’s wrong with this message?]

[He Zhou: Sigh… It’s not that, it’s just that usually only those starlets and online celebrities who want to flirt with me send me messages like that. You suddenly gave me a friendly greeting, and I was shocked. I thought you were hacked by someone.]

Flirting… online celebrities…

Cheng Yi frowned and hesitantly asked.

[Cy: Is it not okay for friends to send this kind of message?]

[He Zhou: Of course it’s okay for friends to send this kind of message, but bro, look at us, who sends this kind of thing? The deep affection between our brothers is buried deep in my heart. If you have anything, you say it, I’ll definitely come, there’s no need to maintain the relationship in such a wishy-washy way]

Indeed, the last time he and He Zhou chatted was last night when he asked himself if he wanted to go to a bar, and he refused again. Cheng Yi hadn’t been out to play much recently, watching Shen Chang’an’s livestream every night on time. After being his guardian whale, he chatted on the phone and went to sleep.

[Cy: …Okay]

Cheng Yi sent the message, understanding what he wanted to know. Just as he was about to exit WeChat, He Zhou’s message came over again.

[He Zhou: Bro!!]

[He Zhou: You didn’t just send it to me? You sent it to them all???]

[He Zhou: My true feelings were misplaced!!!]

[He Zhou: Heartbroken]

Cheng Yi:……

Cheng Yi touched his neck, feeling a little guilty, and exited He Zhou’s chat interface. Um… just pretend he didn’t see it.

Clicking on Shen Chang’an’s chat interface, Cheng Yi flipped through their chat history of the past two days, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter, the content becoming more and more strange.

From good morning in the morning to good night on the phone, from timely greetings for three meals a day to reporting when going out.

Isn’t he and Little Fox a little too ambiguous… for two grown men… this is indeed not good.

…

‘The Universe’s Invincible Hottie Boy Group’

[Cy: Going to Jin Yue City tonight?]

[He Zhou: Alright, bro, you finally have time tonight! We must have fun all night tonight]

[Lin Zhihao: I just woke up, Brother Yi, did you send me the wrong message?]

[Mu Feng: Sent it to me wrong too?]

[Cy: Can’t I care about you guys?]

[Gu Nancheng: If you wanted to care, you should have said so earlier. I thought you suddenly realized you liked men and were preparing to make a move on me]

[Cy: Me? Like men?]

[Gu Nancheng: Ah, no, I’ll take that back, um… I just thought so… I thought]

[Cy: Don’t worry, not only do I not like you, even if I liked men, I wouldn’t like you]

[He Zhou: Brother Nancheng, don’t worry, Brother Yi is recently obsessed with a small streamer. Even if he likes men, he likes that small streamer]

[Gu Nancheng: Interesting, it seems I missed a lot of things while I was abroad]

[Cheng Hua: Second child, you better come home on Saturday and explain yourself to me]

[Cy: …Bro, it’s not what you think]

[Cy: He Zhou, we’ll have a face-to-face talk tonight. If you don’t come, I’ll go to your house to find you]

[He Zhou: Brother Yi, I was wrong]

Heh, try it again next time.

He Zhou was doing it on purpose. He had a feeling that Cheng Yi was a little strange last time in Shen Chang’an’s livestream room, and today he suddenly gave each of them a good morning greeting. He guessed that the reason for this was definitely because of that male streamer.

He Zhou knew that Cheng Yi often had a cold and aloof face, although he looked like he could lose his temper at any time, and had an arrogant and fierce aura, but he was really concerned and protective of the brothers he recognized. The people in this group had grown up together since childhood, and if anyone was bullied, it was just a word.

Could his Brother Yi be deceived by that male streamer with some kind of friend or brother relationship?

He Zhou frowned, thinking in his heart that he had to go and observe carefully.