He spoke as he walked towards the kitchen, his demeanor so natural that it seemed he didn’t mind the fact that Huo Qijun had kicked the ball towards him in an unusual way yesterday.
Huo Qijun didn’t know what to feel deep down. He thought Lin Wei would be pleased to show a willingness to consider his feelings, but reality was almost the opposite. Lin Wei’s calmness made him feel vaguely uneasy.
Nonetheless, the young master with finally some spark in his eyes rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen to help.
“Don’t cause trouble!” Lin Wei instinctively said as he saw him come in, and was surprised by his own words.
Huo Qijun looked baffled and muttered, “Am I crazy to starve myself just to cause you trouble?”
He had merely helped out a little the first time he washed the dishes; did it really have to be remembered for so long?
“I didn’t mean it that way…” Lin Wei rubbed his nose, at a loss for how to explain. He only reacted out of instinct when he saw his cat sneak into the kitchen while he was preparing to cook.
Huo Qijun huffed dismissively, his handsome face sulking, “Just give me the vegetables that need washing!”
“…Okay.”
After the meal was prepared, Huo Qijun began to feel something was odd. It was the first time he noticed that his usual favorite dishes looked completely… incompatible when placed all on one table.
Boiled shrimp, hand-pulled chicken, pumpkin, and corn soup—it just looked unappetizing together.
However, after eating a couple of bites, he thought it was actually quite good. Lin Wei’s cooking was undeniably impressive, and after all, they were all dishes he liked to eat.
“How come you seem to know everything?” Huo Qijun belatedly realized that the table full of dishes couldn’t just be a coincidence; Lin Wei absolutely knew what he liked to eat and made them on purpose.
Not expressing it too clearly, he understood that if he asked Lin Wei how he knew his preferences so well, it would sound too narcissistic. He knew Lin Wei understood what he meant.
Lin Wei couldn’t help but chuckle at that; he wasn’t even sure if Huo Qijun still had the preferences he had as a cat. After all, the tastes of cats and humans were quite different, but he thought he would just give it a try.
“Just eat!” That was hard to say.
“I am eating!” Huo Qijun had just regained his confidence after finding a good dish on the table, and he no longer cared about Lin Wei’s evasive attitude.
Anyway, he had only escaped temporarily. He had already taken a step forward regarding some matters. It made no sense for the one who was lagging behind to keep hesitating!
He had completely forgotten that all he had offered Lin Wei was an empty promise of “I will think about it,” but somehow things weren’t progressing the way he expected, which was gradually making him frustrated, to the point that Lin Wei had to console him.
After dinner, the two sat back down in the living room, and they both felt unsure how to start talking. The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
After a while, Huo Qijun couldn’t stand it anymore and cleared his throat, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?!”
“Of course I do, but I just don’t know where to start,” Lin Wei replied honestly. He couldn’t even find a starting point; it would be too abrupt to ask Huo Qijun why he insisted on believing he liked him.
And as Huo Qijun thought about Lin Wei’s personality, and how he had been enduring for so many years, it was indeed more likely that Lin Wei couldn’t find the courage to speak up.
Or perhaps Lin Wei had already gotten used to standing safely in the position of a best friend, willing to watch Huo Qijun like someone he liked pursue others, even helping him resolve messy situations.
He couldn’t help but wonder how Lin Wei felt watching him sulk because of how Pi Xiaoqing treated him, yet still smiling brightly while cleaning up the mess left behind.
Thinking of this, he felt a little embarrassed about blaming Lin Wei for being indecisive.
After all that had happened the day before, he had already lost most of his straight man’s dignity in front of Lin Wei, and while admitting that he seemed to be attracted to him was tough, the hardest part was already past.
Huo Qijun thought for a moment, clicked his tongue, and started the conversation: “So, about what we were supposed to talk about when we met, are we still not going to come clean?”
“…Are you talking about Yu Yu?” Lin Wei recalled that he promised Yu Yu not to tell Huo Qijun about his matters. At least until Yu Yu left, he couldn’t break his promise and put him in an awkward position, so he could only think of another excuse.
“I’m not in the relationship with him that you think; I happened to discover that your mother sent someone to contact him. I asked him to pretend to agree so that you could know your enemy and yourself.”
Lin Wei babbled without preparation, “He didn’t want to initially, but after I offered the appropriate incentive, he agreed.”
“Wait, so all the things you’ve told me about my mom were not things you found out, but what Yu Yu told you?”
So much for a private investigator being that impressive!
Huo Qijun wasn’t too surprised, but he didn’t understand, “Then why not just tell me directly, instead of letting you pretend to pursue him and keep in touch? Isn’t it a good thing that he helps me? I wouldn’t blame him for accepting your favor!”
“He didn’t want you to know; after all, there’s no overnight feud between mother and son. He didn’t want to be caught in the middle, especially if you two reconcile later—he doesn’t want to be left in a bind.”
“What does he mean by that?” Huo Qijun’s face darkened with anger at those words, “Does he suspect that I would use him as a sacrificial pawn to mend things with my mom?”
Lin Wei shrugged, speaking matter-of-factly, “You have to allow him to assume the worst for self-preservation. Unlike you and me, who have some room for error, if he places all his hopes in others’ character, he’s bound to be harshly disillusioned by society.”
Huo Qijun couldn’t blame Yu Yu too much for looking down on him. His anger was more about fearing that Yu Yu would portray him as that sort of person in front of Lin Wei. Even though he believed Lin Wei liked him and wouldn’t waver because of someone else’s words, who would want to lose points due to such matters?
“So you don’t like him.” After a fit of anger, Huo Qijun finally arrived at that conclusion.
Lin Wei raised an eyebrow and smiled briefly, “Yes, I don’t like him, and he won’t like me either. So, you really don’t have to make such a hasty and inappropriate decision. I’ve told you long ago that being single is quite good for me, and I have no plans to change that at the moment.”