DILLYH Chapter 19

TL: Hua

---

Chapter 19: Gathering

During dinner that evening. Yu Haozhou brought up the gathering tomorrow to Zhou Zizheng. He didn’t ask if he wanted to go, wanting to hear what he would say first.

He asked, “How long will you be gone?”

Yu Haozhou casually picked up a vegetable with his chopsticks: “Hard to say. If it’s fun, I might come back the day after.”

Zhou Zizheng looked up: “What about me?”

Yu Haozhou’s eyebrow twitched, feeling quite annoyed: “What do you mean, ‘what about you’? You’re a grown man. Do I need to take care of you?”

He really thinks of him as his nanny, huh?

Zhou Zizheng murmured “Oh,” was silent for a moment, then looked up again and asked, “Am I not presentable?”

Yu Haozhou wanted to laugh. If he wanted to go, he should just say so. Why all the roundabout tactics? But he kept his lips straight and said very seriously, “How could that be? With your current net worth, everyone would fawn over you. You’re definitely presentable.”

“Is that the only reason?” Zhou Zizheng wasn’t satisfied with the answer.

Yu Haozhou knowingly asked, “What else?”

Yu Haozhou absolutely loved seeing Zhou Zizheng’s careful, wanting-to-say-it-but-not-daring-to-say-it expression. Once upon a time, he could only secretly watch him from behind the crowd. Sometimes he wanted to strike up a conversation, but he was afraid of his look of disdain and impatience.

While he was daydreaming, Zhou Zizheng suddenly hissed. Yu Haozhou immediately snapped back to reality and saw his injured left hand slightly raised, his brows lightly furrowed: “Did you bump it? Does it hurt a lot?”

“It’s nothing.” Zhou Zizheng was expressionless. “I’m used to the pain.”

“The assistant changed my dressing at the company during the day, but they might not be very practiced. They kept accidentally pulling the wound. They’re not as careful with the ointment as you are.”

He brought it up very casually.

Yu Haozhou: “…”

Zhou Zizheng bit into a piece of meat and then suggested to him, “When you put on the ointment for me later, be slow. I’ll film the video and send it to my assistant to study.”

Zhou Zizheng looked at Yu Haozhou’s reaction very seriously and deliberately: “Is that okay?”

What is he acting for?

Yu Haozhou offered a fake smile: “Of course.”

He was about to say that once his assistant learned the technique, he wouldn’t need to bother him anymore when Zhou Zizheng childishly threw down his chopsticks, dropped the act, and questioned him: “Is your old flame going to be at the party? Why don’t you want me to go?”

Yu Haozhou rolled his eyes speechlessly: “Don’t exaggerate. Did I say you couldn’t go? Did you even ask?”

Zhou Zizheng looked slightly embarrassed. He thought about it and realized it was true. He had only been thinking about why Yu Haozhou wasn’t taking him, but he could have asked. He smiled: “Then can I go with you tomorrow?”

Why hadn’t Yu Haozhou noticed before that he was an idiot? He’d made it so obvious, yet he kept asking, asking, asking: “If you go, no drinking. Not a drop of alcohol. Also, protect your left hand yourself. I don’t have time to look after you.”

“Okay,” Zhou Zizheng agreed immediately, afraid that if he hesitated for a second, Yu Haozhou would change his mind. He secretly looked at him and tentatively held out his left hand. “Zhouzhou, please change my dressing. That assistant is too clumsy. Today they almost made me need re-stitching.”

The assistant who had just arrived home: “?”

Yu Haozhou had guessed that day that the injury was likely caused by his own improper handling, so he still felt a bit guilty. If such a good-looking hand were left with an ugly scar on the web, he would feel uneasy every time he saw it.

Yu Haozhou was more concerned about the recovery of the wound than Zhou Zizheng was. He went to the living room, retrieved the bandages and antiseptic needed for the dressing change, and carefully unwrapped it: “Is the assistant’s technique really bad? Otherwise, I can come over every lunchtime to change your dressing?”

“That would be too much trouble,” Zhou Zizheng suppressed his excitement and pretended to be reserved.

Yu Haozhou wasn’t in the mood to tease him and told the truth: “It’s not far anyway.”

There was something else he didn’t say: that he was too bored being alone every day. He was either lying on the sofa playing games or going out to eat with friends, and the days felt incredibly slow.

But during the few hours Zhou Zizheng was home from work, he felt time flew by. Many times, when he was bored playing outside, he’d think about going to the company to find him, but he couldn’t bring himself to take that step. He felt a bit like a… seductive concubine who delayed the emperor from attending court.

Zhou Zizheng leaned in and kissed Yu Haozhou’s cheek. Yu Haozhou paused, said nothing, and continued the task at hand.

Zhou Zizheng’s heart and eyes were filled with him: “Zhouzhou, I like you so much.”

*

Going to a crowded place, Yu Haozhou was even more worried than Zhou Zizheng about his hand getting squeezed. He told him to keep his hand close to his chest so no one would touch it, and finally, still uneasy, he pulled it into his own embrace.

When they reached the private room door, everyone saw Yu Haozhou holding Zhou Zizheng’s left hand as if it were a precious treasure. They murmured in surprise.

Under the faint, oppressive gaze of Zhou Zizheng, however, no one dared to say anything teasing.

Yu Haozhou was very anxious about the unfinished conversation with Han Jin yesterday. As soon as he entered, he ignored Zhou Zizheng, grabbed Han Jin, who was drinking in the corner, and pulled him outside to catch up privately.

Zhou Zizheng found an empty seat and sat down by himself.

Just as Yu Haozhou had guessed, as soon as he came in, many people eagerly rushed over to toast him.

Zhou Zizheng was not impatient. Instead, he patiently explained, “Sorry, I can’t drink. My husband will get angry.”

Everyone was impressed by the display of affection and switched to toasting him with tea. Zhou Zizheng politely took a sip and then said, “I’m only here today as Yu Haozhou’s family member to attend this gathering. I won’t discuss work.”

“…”

After politely refusing many people. Someone who wasn’t paying attention still came over, but this time the voice was quite familiar: “Mr. Zhou, what a coincidence?”

Zhou Zizheng looked up. It was indeed a coincidence. It was Xu Yi, the assistant who couldn’t even change his dressing properly. He was a summer intern recruited from somewhere by the lower-level staff.

Or perhaps he got in through the back door.

Zhou Zizheng didn’t care about such things. He accepted whomever the HR department assigned unless they were extremely difficult to work with, in which case he would ask for a replacement.

As an intern assistant, Xu Yi handled other things in an orderly fashion. Only the dressing change—either he was clumsy or slow-witted—even something as simple as using a cotton swab to apply medicine and wrapping a bandage, he managed to turn into a very painful ordeal.

The complaint last night was not an exaggeration by Zhou Zizheng; it was entirely genuine.

“Mm.” Zhou Zizheng wasn’t interested in how an assistant of his could also be in this circle attending the gathering. “Mr. Zhou, would you like some tea? Da Hong Pao[mfn]A premium quality Chinese oolong tea, often called the “King of Rock Teas.” It is the most famous and prestigious tea from the Wuyi Mountain region in Fujian province, China.[/mfn]?”

Xu Yi made a move to get up and brew it for him.

“No need.” Zhou Zizheng said, “We’re all friends outside of work. Be casual.”

Xu Yi nodded, sat down a slight distance from him, and looked down at his phone, texting someone.

On the other side, Yu Haozhou’s surprised voice startled the quiet night.

“What? You’ve never slept with Cheng Qianyu?”

Yu Haozhou was a bit confused. “Then why would she say the child is yours? Is she trying to make you the scapegoat?”

Han Jin also looked deeply troubled: “I don’t know either, but she’s convinced the child is mine… Don’t I know whether I did it or not?” His voice trailed off.

Han Jin ran a hand through his hair: “I just don’t understand why she insists the child is mine. No matter who the father is, I wouldn’t abandon her. I just want to go and teach that man a lesson, but she keeps saying the child is mine and even swore an oath.”

“I don’t even know what to do.” Han Jin sometimes felt really wronged. “Haozi, tell me, am I an idiot? She came to me with someone else’s child, yet I’m still feeling lucky that when she encountered this, the first person she thought of was me, not Zhou Zizheng.”

“…” Yu Haozhou pinched the philtrum of his nose to prevent himself from fainting from anger.

“Yes, you are the biggest, stupidest idiot in the whole world!” Yu Haozhou wished he could slap some sense into him. “What are you thinking? That’s someone else’s child, not yours. Do you really want to accept him and become a step-dad?”

“That’s why I came to ask you.” Han Jin said, “I dream of marrying her. If she aborts the child, she definitely won’t marry me. If I accept this child, there might be a slim chance.”

Yu Haozhou turned and walked away. Too angry, he turned back, kicked him, and was about to leave again. Han Jin quickly grabbed his hand, preventing him from going: “Haozi, Brother Hao, you’re the most resourceful. Give your brother some advice.”

“I have no advice!” Yu Haozhou cursed. “You’re rushing to be a stepdad for someone else. What advice can I give? Go play by yourself. I don’t have time for your drama.”

Han Jin had only Yu Haozhou as a close, trusted friend. Since Cheng Qianyu approached him and told him about this, he had been troubled for days. He was counting on Yu Haozhou to come up with a solution that pleased both sides, or rather, he was hoping to hear Yu Haozhou support his decision to become a step-dad, absolutely not to be constantly called a stupid jerk like he was now.

“Why don’t you go ask Zhou Zizheng? Maybe he knows who the guy is?”

Yu Haozhou snapped, “Why would he know? How long has it been since he’s had any contact with Cheng Qianyu?”

Han Jin calmed down and analyzed with him: “Chengcheng is definitely not a casual girl, so the person who could make her willingly sleep with him must be a guy she likes—”

“Wait a minute.” Yu Haozhou narrowed his eyes. “You’re not suggesting that this child has something to do with Zhou Zizheng, are you?” After all, Cheng Qianyu liking Zhou Zizheng for over ten years was no secret.

“Of course not.”

Han Jin was a bit guilty. In fact, his subconscious reaction was that the child really was Zhou Zizheng’s. Maybe Cheng Qianyu was desperate and used some means on Zhou Zizheng to successfully conceive.

Later on, after thinking about it, it was questionable whether Zhou Zizheng, who was as bent as a mosquito repellent incense, could even get it up for a woman, so he instantly ruled him out.

“Then who else could it be?”

“That’s why we need to ask Zhou Zizheng!”

Han Jin slung his arm over his shoulder, their heads close together: “Chengcheng disappeared after graduation, and I guess she probably went back to her hometown. Only Zhou Zizheng knows the situation there.”

“Maybe they have friends they hang out with often back home, or maybe that guy also likes Chengcheng, and they were giving each other the eye every day, and maybe things just clicked.” Han Jin’s own analysis made him cry, sobbing, “Damn it, why can’t she see me? Am I really that bad, Haozi? You be the judge.”

Yu Haozhou was speechless: “If it were me, I wouldn’t want to be with an idiot either.”

Han Jin cried even louder. Yu Haozhou expertly covered his mouth: “It’s not your time to cry. Stop making all this noise. If Cheng Qianyu really likes that person, why wouldn’t she abort the child or marry him? Why insist on pinning it on you?”

“That’s right.” Han Jin sniffled. “Why?”

“Could it be that she was forced?” Han Jin instantly flared up.

Yu Haozhou said, “That’s even more impossible. If she were forced, knowing her personality, the first thing she would do is abort it.”

Han Jin was confused: “Then what exactly do you mean? How did this child come about?”

Yu Haozhou sighed, feeling a sudden sympathy for his foolish brother: “This child either came by accident, the man doesn’t want to raise it, and she can’t bear to abort it, so she thought of you, the big sucker. Or, she got pregnant with the guy while drunk, she doesn’t want the man to know, but she can’t raise the child alone, and the child can’t follow her without a name, so she thought of you, the big sucker, at this time.”

Han Jin felt his brain starting to work. He didn’t quite understand, but vague, disjointed fragments of memory flashed through his mind. Just as he tried hard to catch them, a deep, cold voice suddenly sounded behind him.

“Yu Haozhou, what are you doing?”

---