DCTMOAS Chapter 25
by SuxxiChu Cheng was still lost in thought about their previous conversation.
Meanwhile, Yu Siting had finished tidying up his desk and glanced down at the takeout bag in Chu Cheng’s hand. “What did you order?”
“Nothing special—just a basic rice bowl.” Chu Cheng lifted the bag to show him. “I’ve gotten tired of all the nearby places, just randomly picked one.”
“Want to stay and share a table?” Yu Siting asked casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Chu Cheng hadn’t expected the invitation and hesitated. “Is it okay to eat together in the office like this?”
“It won’t cause any problems. No one else in our group comes back here to nap at noon.” As Yu Siting spoke, he paused his movements and looked at Chu Cheng with a composed and knowing gaze. “Strictly speaking, that’s something you should already know.”
What does he mean by that?
Chu Cheng was momentarily stunned, but thinking back carefully, knowing how this “big brother” operated, he quickly figured it out. That anonymous letter he delivered to the math department was also during lunchtime, when no one was around.
This man just had to throw in some barbs every single day—or he’d feel physically unwell otherwise.
A faint trace of resentment flickered in Chu’s usually clear and bright eyes.
Yu Siting caught on instantly: “Looks like you remembered.”
Unable to win the argument thanks to his own embarrassing past, Chu Cheng opted for a tactical retreat. He grabbed his takeout box and turned to leave. “Mr. Yu, enjoy your lunch.”
Fine, go ahead and remember that forever. I’m done playing with you.
“Hey—my memory’s just too good, that’s all.” Seeing him about to leave, Yu Siting called out with a grin. “The pickled fish from Shengda Sichuan Cuisine is the most authentic in Tingzhou. Even better than what Old Zhao makes. Really not going to try it?”
It had been raining lightly for days—definitely the perfect weather for that dish. But if Chu Cheng stayed any longer in this man’s territory, who knew how much more emotional damage he’d suffer.
Chu still intended to refuse, but before he could speak, a voice rang out from outside the office.
“Uncle! Why’d you order such a huge fish? Going all the way to the school gate for this delivery nearly killed me. There’s no way the two of us can finish it, right?”
Lu Yan walked in, lugging a takeout bag that looked heavy. He stepped quickly into the room. When he saw who was inside, he swallowed the rest of his complaint and suddenly said, “Ohhh, I knew it. You invited Mr. Chu to join, didn’t you?”
Chu Cheng: “…”
So this invitation hadn’t been spontaneous after all. Yu Siting must’ve already guessed that, with Zhou Jin gone, he wouldn’t bother going to the crowded cafeteria.
“Bring it over,” Yu Siting said without addressing the comment. He pulled out a chair for Chu Cheng.
The offer was now impossible to decline.
“Too hot—I’ll do it.” Yu only let his nephew place a couple of side dishes on the table before taking the rest himself.
The pickled fish had come in a large thermal pot, with ceramic soup bowls and a ladle included—comparable to hot pot takeout in terms of completeness. Chu had only ever seen this level of delivery from actual hot pot restaurants.
Yu Siting noticed ink smudged on Lu Yan’s knuckles and immediately stopped him from sitting down. “Go wash your hands.”
“Alright, alright.” Lu Yan responded cheerfully and jogged out, clearly excited for the meal.
“Try it while it’s hot.” Yu Siting scooped up a bowl of fish with broth and passed it to Chu Cheng.
Chu didn’t take it. “Give it to Lu Yan first. It’s rare that he gets to decide what’s for lunch.”
Yu placed the bowl by Chu’s hand anyway and replied helplessly, “Does he look like someone I’ve been mistreating?”
Definitely not.
Waking up early to buy him breakfast, staying up late helping with homework and grading papers, driving him to and from school, and taking him out on weekends for fresh air, swimming, and movies—
As an uncle, Yu Siting had already gone above and beyond—more like a father.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant it’s what he picked.” Chu smiled with narrowed eyes, unable to refuse any longer. He picked up the ladle and tried the dish with graceful manners.
The fish was fresh, the broth rich, with just the right hint of tingling spice and Sichuan pepper aroma. It definitely lived up to its reputation. Even delivered as takeout, it didn’t lose any quality.
“The soup last time was good, but this one tastes even better.” Chu sincerely complimented it.
Lu Yan returned just in time, shaking water off his hands, and caught that last comment. He looked suspiciously between them. “You two had fish soup without me?”
Chu explained, “It was during National Day break. You weren’t around.”
“Ohhh.” Lu grabbed a napkin, dried his hands, and sat down. “That’s when I went on that trip with Second Aunt.”
Second Aunt?
Hearing that, Chu turned to Yu Siting, curious. “Mr. Yu, you have more than one sister?”
“Mm, I have two.” Yu Siting scooped out some more fish and handed it to Lu Yan. “He’s my eldest sister’s son. I also have a second sister—you’ve met her before.”
“I have?” Chu Cheng had no memory of this.
Yu Siting reminded him, “That night in Beijing, in front of the Baihui Lounge—she drove my car.”
With those key phrases strung together, Chu Cheng finally remembered.
“So the drunk person that night was your second sister.”
Back then, his roommates had made all kinds of wild guesses about their relationship, quite dramatically so. But after getting to know Yu Siting better, Chu Cheng had found him too serious and upright, so he had dismissed the incident from his memory.
Looking back now, none of their guesses had been correct.
“She’s a freelance novelist who enjoys experiencing all kinds of events, so it’s not unusual for her to end up passed out in different places.”
Yu Siting’s explanation finally clarified why their first encounter had been in such an awkward situation.
“No wonder you were so calm on the phone when you asked for the address. Oh, right…” As Chu Cheng spoke, he suddenly remembered something. He put down the ceramic bowl in his hand, pulled out his phone from his coat pocket, and tapped on the screen.
Almost at the same time, Yu Siting’s phone lit up on his desk.
[A pending WeChat transfer.]
“What’s this?” Yu Siting checked it and looked at the sender in confusion.
Chu Cheng said, “I picked that up under the car that day. I never got the chance to return it. You just brought it up, so I remembered.”
“She threw away her own money—you don’t need to give it to me just because you found it,” Yu Siting chuckled and hit the refund button. “Transferring money out of nowhere? I thought you were sending a wedding gift to Zhou Jin and sent it to me by mistake.”
Once again, Chu Cheng was rendered speechless by his words.
He and Zhou Jin were senior-junior, colleagues, and also co-rented an apartment. Even if his salary was modest, there’s no way he’d give just a hundred yuan as a wedding gift.
“You two sure have a lot of interesting encounters outside of school. Tossing money in the street?” Lu Yan, who had been quietly sipping soup on the side, finally spoke up, eyes wide in shock as he asked.
Yu Siting gave a dry snort. “Is there anything your second aunt wouldn’t do? You’d better stop hanging out with her so much, or you’ll just keep giving me reasons to scold you.”
“No way, Second Aunt dotes on me the most.”
Lu Yan naturally defended the person who always took him out to have fun, speaking without hesitation. But after a few seconds, he had to admit something honestly.
“But having a writer in the family isn’t all good either—you never know when you might become one of her creative inspirations.”
“Mmm~” Chu Cheng responded with a hum, a smile unconsciously spreading to his brows.
He didn’t say anything else. After finishing the warm, comforting fish soup, he lowered his head and quietly began eating his lunch.
Even though Lu Yan couldn’t quite understand the smile, Yu Siting understood the unspoken recognition hidden behind it.
Getting written into a novel… there was probably no one who understood that better than Young Master Chu.
Author’s Note:
Yu Siting: I’ve already read six volumes.