BTMDY Chapter 102

The Imperial Kitchen was the most famous chicken chain in Ningchang City.

 

Lin Shen had a special soft spot for their garlic fried chicken and roast chicken. Lin Wangye usually tried to keep him away from heavy meat dishes because of his health, but seeing Lin Shen’s complexion much better than yesterday afternoon, and knowing roast chicken was less greasy than fried, he finally let it slide.

 

“Alright, I’ll go get it for you.”

 

Lin Wangye put down his chopsticks and stood up, turning to Lu Chengxuan: “Brother Lu, you want some? Will one be enough?”

 

“What’s the rush?” Lin Shen leaned against the headboard, arms crossed, pointing like a general on a battlefield. “I didn’t tell you to go—I told him to go.”

 

Lin Wangye didn’t dare make Lu Chengxuan run errands. He hurriedly said, “Doesn’t matter who goes, I’ll go, I’ll go.”

 

“I’ll go.”

 

Lu Chengxuan turned, walked to the desk, grabbed his car keys, and left without giving Lin Wangye another chance to protest.

 

Lin Wangye didn’t have time to stop him. Sheepishly, he sat back down and quietly ate. Seeing Lin Shen absorbed in his game, he couldn’t help nagging a little: “Eat more, okay? Grandpa’s stir-fried lettuce is really good. Don’t just think about fancy meat all the time.”

 

“I really don’t have an appetite.”

 

Lin Shen wasn’t really focused on the game either. He let the little character on the screen keep losing health without any real effort to fight back. Laughing quietly, he failed the level and exited to switch games.

 

Normally, Lin Shen was full of energy, always lively. Since taking over the company, he hadn’t fully settled into his role yet and had to use certain measures to assert authority—when scolding subordinates, the whole three-story building could hear him.

 

Spending so much time with him, Lin Wangye quickly noticed something off. Even though Lin Shen looked fine, his voice sounded weak, lacking strength.

 

It was like he’d been up all night plowing ten acres of fields.

 

A stress response carried over from his previous life made Lin Wangye immediately imagine a tear-jerking drama: forced smiles, tireless dedication. With a sharp “whoosh,” he stood up and walked to the bed, seriously feeling Lin Shen’s forehead before pulling out his phone.

 

“You’re looking really off. I’m calling the doctor.”

 

“Hey!” Lin Shen quickly snatched the phone away. For a moment, he didn’t know how to explain, then forced himself to speak: “Really, it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just some side effects from the medicine this morning. I’m feeling low on energy, sleepy all the time.”

 

Many medications can suppress the central nervous system, producing calming or sedative effects. On top of that, Lin Shen had been under a lot of stress lately and was a little overworked.

 

Seeing that, although he looked a bit drained, his face was still healthy and pink. Considering that Lu Chengxuan had already said he was fine, Lin Wangye finally relaxed a little and returned to eating.

 

Lin Shen, still holding his phone, flipped it over to glance at the screen. He casually asked, “What’s your lock screen code?”

 

“010401,” Lin Wangye replied without thinking.

 

Lin Shen typed it in as soon as he heard it. Only after unlocking did he realize it, raising an eyebrow, glancing sideways with a teasing smirk: “Still keeping a note of my birthday… secretly had a crush on me, huh?”

 

“Ah, right, right, right.”

 

Lin Wangye had long since figured out that this guy loved teasing people for fun and never took anything seriously, so he didn’t bother arguing. He just nodded absentmindedly and kept eating.

 

Lin Shen’s memory was notoriously bad. He vaguely remembered Shi Yuan was a Libra but forgot the exact date. Seeing a number in front of his own birthday made him a little annoyed. “01… That’s his birthday, right?”

 

“Of course,” Lin Wangye said. “His birthday’s October first. Who else could it be?”

 

“Why the hell is his birthday before mine?” Lin Shen demanded.

 

Lin Wangye sighed, exasperated. “Come on, yours has both the month and the day. I shortened his to just the day, so of course it goes first—it’s more important that way. And you know what? He got super jealous when he found out I put your birthday in the password. Took me forever to calm him down, all sour and grumpy.”

 

Lin Shen felt completely justified. “You’re the daddy’s boy—why don’t you just tell him!”

 

Talking about it, Lin Wangye was full of complaints too, his voice rising like he wanted to pick a fight. “I did tell him! Even if he didn’t show it, he was a little jealous. That whole afternoon he wouldn’t kiss me, and I didn’t blame you—but you blame me!”

 

Lin Shen, a little dizzy from being shown up again, didn’t bother arguing. He bent over his phone, curious to see how a cute couple actually did their flirting.

 

Finding the chat with Shi Yuan was easy—it was pinned in WeChat with a big bold ‘Hubby.’

 

Clicking it for fun, Lin Shen noticed they hardly ever texted. The chat was mostly voice or video calls lasting anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, sprinkled with a few photos and occasional text messages.

 

*

 

[20 minutes ago]

 

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: [photo]

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: Just sneaked a taste—Grandpa’s tofu today is insanely good

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: I’ll learn it and make it for you later—Xiao Lin Tofu -3-

 

[3 days ago]

 

[Hubby]: [photo][photo][photo]

[Hubby]: Busy all morning, starving. Lunch wasn’t proper Chinese food—braised pork was too greasy, worse than average back home. And with local habits, the calories are huge. Better than nothing, I guess.

[Hubby]: Cost is I’ll have to run extra laps tomorrow morning.

[Hubby]: Gotta work for those abs you want.

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: Just woke up

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: Gonna suck in those abs!

 

[August 2]

 

[Hubby]: Went out today for some inspiration, got lucky and saw the aurora. But it’s freezing at night here—typing is a struggle.

[Hubby]: [photo][photo][photo][photo]

[Hubby]: Pictures don’t capture how clear and beautiful it was, but it’s fine. We’ll see it together someday.

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: Awake!

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: I asked the aurora to pass a message—did it tell you Xiao Lin loves you?

 

[July 27]

 

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: Just went downstairs and saw a little cat sleeping in the garden. I didn’t want to wake it, so I crept over, and it rolled onto its back for me to pet it! Its little balls are so bouncy haha

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: [photo]

[Hubby]: Don’t touch the cat’s naughty parts

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: We said goodnight ages ago—why aren’t you asleep yet!

[Hubby]: Got woken up by a call, going to sleep now. If you want, we can get a cat later

[Xiao Lin Offers Himself]: Okay! I like orange cats! I want an orange cat

[Hubby]: I like Xiao Lin, so I’ll take care of Xiao Lin

 

[July 25]

 

[Hubby]: Forgot my keys when going out

[Hubby]: It’s raining outside, and finding a locksmith here is tricky, so I went to the library for now. Saw a little flower by the puddle, pale blue and pretty

[Hubby]: [photo]

 

*

 

Most of the chat logs were basically meaningless—they were just tiny slices of life.

 

The two of them lived in countries with over ten hours of time difference, so day and night were completely flipped.

 

Lin Shen noticed that they only sent messages after the other had gone to rest, basically taking turns in a one-person show, talking to themselves without expecting a real conversation. But whatever they sent always got a response.

 

Sometimes it was text, but most of the time it was a call.

 

Lin Shen couldn’t quite put his feelings into words.

 

On one hand, he genuinely thought most of what they said was trivial nonsense, sprinkled with some overly sweet words. If it were him, something as small as forgetting his keys wouldn’t have turned into such a long spiel.

 

On the other hand… he felt a little jealous.

 

Because he could sense the love stitched together from all these scattered, everyday fragments.

 

A very complete kind of love.

 

“You two literally talk all day about… what?” Lin Shen scrolled through the chat, feeling a sour pang in his chest. Pretending to be speechless, he teased: “Even lighter than lunch today. Don’t you ever talk about adult stuff?”

 

Lin Wangye’s face flushed, and he ducked his head to hide it.

 

“Adult stuff? I usually talk about that with him on the phone,” he said.

 

Lin Shen lazily rested his chin in his hand and flicked his thumb across the screen, letting out a light snort. Pursing his lips, he shook his head: “What’s so great about all these little trivial things? I don’t get you people in long-distance relationships.”

 

“Sharing is a way of showing love, what do you know!” Lin Wangye’s eyes rolled, and he deliberately raised his voice, arguing with perfect logic: “You wanna find someone to talk to? Who would care?”

 

Lin Shen had to admit—that made sense.

 

Someone like Lu Chengxuan, who could barely speak even if you hit him with three sticks, wouldn’t respond if he sent messages the same way.

 

Thinking of that, Lin Shen idly opened the chat with Lu Chengxuan, right next to the pillow. Turns out they barely spoke at all. Any messages were strictly work-related, and most ended with a simple confirmation: ‘1.’

 

Sliding the two phones together, Lin Shen couldn’t help but notice just how disastrously he lost in both message length and frequency.

 

Before he could dwell on it, Lin Wangye suddenly snatched both phones out of his hands. Because the floor was carpeted, Lin Shen didn’t even notice him sneaking over.

 

Realizing his phone wasn’t locked, panic hit, and he reached to grab it back. But any bigger movement instantly shot pain from his lower back down, forcing him to flop back onto the bed.

 

“Ah ha, what’s going on here?”

 

Lin Wangye glanced at the top of Lin Shen’s phone screen, where the bright letters read ‘Lu Chengxuan,’ and grinned triumphantly, hands on his hips. Over his head, tiny mischievous little devil shapes seemed to spin and dance.

 

“We were talking about love, so why are you comparing him to Brother Lu? What’s going on?”

 

“What are you even saying? Don’t understand a word,” Lin Shen, red-faced with embarrassment and anger, reached out: “Give me back my phone! I wanted him to bring me a fruit tea when he comes back—it goes perfectly with roast chicken!”

 

Lin Wangye deliberately raised the phone higher and shook it teasingly: “Really?”

 

After last night’s intense workout, Lin Shen’s waist was sore and weak. Leaning against the headboard, he could barely move, furious but powerless: “Stop joking! Give it here!”

 

Lin Wangye, having already seen through him, handed the phone back with a cold snort. He turned and went back to the dining table, voice dripping with mockery: “Keep pretending. Brother Lu talks to me more than he talks to you anyway.”

 

“Ridiculous,” Lin Shen scoffed, shaking his head firmly. “That guy can barely manage more than fifty words a day—anything more would be overkill.”

 

Seeing that Lin Shen didn’t believe him, Lin Wangye immediately grabbed his own phone, took a few screenshots, and ‘whoosh’—sent them to Lin Shen’s device.

 

Lin Shen stared at the screen—sure enough, it was true.

 

The content Lin Wangye sent to Lu Chengxuan wasn’t like the chats with Shi Yuan; it was mostly questions about study or work, little things he didn’t understand.

 

But Lin Wangye had a habit online—he used lots of exclamation marks and emojis.

 

Even without seeing him in person, you could picture his quick, lively typing and enthusiasm. If you knew him well, you could even imagine the tone he used while saying each line.

 

For every question Lin Wangye asked, Lu Chengxuan explained in painstaking detail, never skimping on words. Complex things could even be explained in voice messages over thirty seconds long.

 

Lin Shen stared at the screenshots, stunned. Then he switched back to Lu Chengxuan’s chat and looked at the endlessly repetitive ‘1,’ ‘Got it,’ ‘Okay’—and his blood boiled.

 

He didn’t reflect on how stiff and lifeless his own messages were. Instead, he impulsively blamed the other person, and in a flash of rage, deleted him from his contacts.

 

Then, of course, immediately regretted it.

 

Things were only getting more complicated, and Lin Shen felt helpless, head spinning. He sat on the bed, racking his brain, and eventually gave up, picking up the controller to play games—but the more he played, the more frustrated he became.

 

The Imperial Kitchen had many branches in Ningchang City, and soon Lu Chengxuan returned.

 

“Close the door.”

 

Lin Shen turned, staring at him with mock annoyance. “All that air-conditioning—won’t the cold just escape? Who’s going to survive the heat?”

 

Leaving the door wide open was Lin Shen’s idea—it was just to air out the room and get rid of the lingering smells. Lu Chengxuan had no idea why he was suddenly so worked up in less than half an hour. Without a word, he turned and closed the door, then split the chicken into two portions: one he placed in front of Lin Wangye, the other by the bedside.

 

Lin Shen didn’t reach for the roast chicken. Instead, he held out his hand.

 

“Give me the phone for a sec.”

 

Hearing that, Lu Chengxuan didn’t even ask why. He just pulled the phone from his pocket and handed it over.

 

“Password?”

 

“Six ones.”

 

Lin Shen gave him a strange look, then typed it in. He lifted his arm, palm facing inward, making a gesture like shooing something away.

 

Though he didn’t know what Lin Shen was up to, Lu Chengxuan just turned and left.

 

Lin Shen quietly re-added the contact he’d deleted, then tossed the phone aside as if nothing had happened.

 

Meanwhile, Lin Wangye had already started eating, and the scent of the roast chicken spread through the room. Lin Shen’s appetite stirred at last, and he grabbed his chopsticks, digging in fast.

 

The richer the flavor, the quicker it got cloying.

 

Just as Lin Shen turned to grab some water, Lu Chengxuan appeared, holding a cup of fruit tea with a straw already inserted, and handed it to him.

 

Lin Shen looked at it, puzzled.

 

He clearly remembered deleting him just moments ago without saying anything. Could it be Lin Wangye who had mentioned it? But Lin Wangye had only said to ask Lu Chengxuan to buy it—he wouldn’t have had to go the extra mile.

 

As Lin Shen took the fruit tea, muttering to himself, Lin Wangye piped up.

 

“Brother Lu, I have to report! Just now, Old Lin bet me that you couldn’t say fifty words in a day. You have to say fifty-one words before nightfall to prove him wrong!”

 

Lin Shen didn’t care at all. He sucked on the straw silently, pretending not to hear, switching channels with the remote.

 

Lu Chengxuan glanced at him, expression calm.

 

“He won. I don’t talk much during the day… but that doesn’t mean I won’t at night.”

 

At that moment, Lin Shen “pfft!”—spit the fruit tea all over the bed.

 

*

 

Lin Shen (smiling): Ningchang’s Xiao Lin is too powerful for me

 

---

 

Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ<๑)