DMPSA CH 25

Chapter 25: Do You Like Su Qing?

Yue Qi brought the bag of items into the tea house, and Su Qing went upstairs to grab two clean towels, one for each of them, to dry their hair and clothes that had gotten wet from the rain.

When he saw the items Yue Qi had placed on the bar counter, he asked what they were.

“These are for you.” Yue Qi pushed the bag toward Su Qing and then opened the bag to reveal two bottles of wine. “These two are famous red wines from Silver Oak Winery. I’ve tasted both, and they’re both delicious. I just didn’t know which flavor you’d prefer, so I bought both for you to try.”

Thinking back to that phone call, Su Qing still felt uneasy. After all, making the usually good-tempered Yue Qi angry had been a rather difficult experience. But now that Yue Qi had brought wine over to him, he must have calmed down, right?

“Thank you. These wines must be expensive. How much do I owe you? I’ll pay you back…”

“The wine isn’t expensive. It was more of a hassle for me to bring them over. They’re heavy. You should come over and give me a massage,” Yue Qi joked, directing Su Qing to help him out.

The weight of the two bottles of wine wasn’t really a big deal for an adult, and Su Qing knew that Yue Qi was just not willing to accept money for the wine.

“That day, I’m really sorry,” Su Qing thought for a moment and decided to apologize sincerely.

“What day are you talking about?” Yue Qi asked with a half-smile. “The day you took advantage of me, or the day you took advantage and then pretended it didn’t happen, saying you treated me like a hookup?”

“I didn’t treat you like a hookup…” Su Qing was mortified. “…I’m really sorry, I wasn’t trying to say that, I’m so bad with words.” Though embarrassed to the point of wanting to disappear, Su Qing still tried to explain. How could he possibly treat Yue Qi like that? That would be incredibly disrespectful.

Yue Qi knew full well that Su Qing didn’t mean it like that, but even though he understood, there was still a lingering feeling of dissatisfaction, so he purposely teased him. Yue Qi waved his hand to stop Su Qing from talking and walked toward table one. “Don’t say anything more. Brew some tea to make up for it. It’s been a while since I had Jin Xuan tea, and I’m kind of craving it now.”

Su Qing wasn’t sure if Yue Qi was joking, but he touched his nose, his ears turning slightly red. “Alright, I’ll brew Jin Xuan tea today.”

“Jasmine and Chacha were meowing at Yue Qi from table no. 1. Yue Qi sat down there, facing the bar counter. He picked up the cats and gently rubbed them, a faint smile on his lips, and his eyes were gentle.”

Su Qing looked at Yue Qi and felt a bit dizzy.

He thought to himself: What should I do? This person is getting better and better at flirting. If no one stops me, I might just go ahead and chase after him!

Though he thought he might chase after him, both of them were just talking to themselves in their heads. In the following days, Yue Qi was very busy. Since September had just started, he had to prepare his lessons. At the hospital, he was also a core member, tasked with spreading the new knowledge he’d learned from training last month, in addition to his usual patient consultations and surgeries. With all these responsibilities, his visits to the tea house became less frequent.

Su Qing often found himself standing in front of the bar, lost in thought. But when Yue Qi arrived, Su Qing always pretended to be busy and refused to go over and chat. Da Wang, who was in the kitchen, saw Su Qing daydreaming so often and became annoyed. When Yue Qi finally came, Su Qing would hide in the kitchen, getting in the way. Da Wang angrily scolded him.

“What are you doing?” Da Wang pointed a soup ladle at Su Qing, asking fiercely.

“I’m not doing anything. I came in to check if your soup is ready to be served,” Su Qing replied, bewildered by the scolding.

“Da Qiao will serve it, no need for you to worry. Go back to the bar and brew your tea properly.” Da Wang tried to push Su Qing out. “Hurry up, go chase him!”

“But I…” Su Qing turned around and hid behind Da Wang. “Forget it, I’m not ready yet.”

“What are you waiting for?” Dawang looked at him with disdain. “Except for that messy fake relationship with Qin Yang, you’ve been a single dog for over thirty years. How long are you going to wait?”

“Qing, you’re thirty-seven, not a seventeen-year-old fresh young man. Do you really have time to wait? This Dr. Yue looks like a great guy. If you don’t want him, I do. I’ll go ask for his number,” Da Wang pretended to set down the soup ladle and walked toward the door.

“You go ahead,” Su Qing sat down in the kitchen. “Go ahead, at least you’re a normal Omega.” He said in a self-pitying tone as he watched Da Wang’s retreating back.

Da Wang, hearing that, was so angry he almost turned around to grab the soup ladle and hit him. Taking a deep breath, he walked out of the kitchen, and under Su Qing’s gaze through the glass, he went over to flirt with Yue Qi.

Yue Qi was sitting at the bar counter, working on his lesson preparations on the computer when he saw Da Wang smiling and sitting down beside him. He felt a bit confused. It was rare for Da Wang to leave the kitchen during business hours. Was there something he needed to talk to him about?

“What’s up?” Yue Qi instinctively asked, glancing towards the kitchen.

“Don’t look at the kitchen, look at me.” Da Wang continued to smile, but the words he spoke were gritted through his teeth.

“Look at me first. Tell me honestly—do you like Su Qing?” Dawang’s posture was flirtatious and agile. If it weren’t for the fierce tone he was using to ask about Su Qing, Yue Qi might have thought he had walked into some shady bar where a hostess was hitting on him. He never expected the usually cold and aloof Da Wang to have such a side.

Seeing that Yue Qi was stunned, Da Wang tapped the table. “Hey, are you really so enchanted by me?” His eyes were full of menace.

Yue Qi shuddered. “No, I was scared by you. Could you not do that? It’s a bit scary.”

“Nope, someone’s watching.” He rolled his eyes toward the kitchen. “Don’t change the subject, answer me quickly—do you like Su Qing?”

“I… I think I do,” Yue Qi said with a shy smile. “He’s pretty cute.”

“Well, if he’s cute, then go for it!” Da Wang’s eyes widened in shock. “You two together are nearly eighty years old already, still playing these innocent games?” He placed one hand on Yue Qi’s shoulder, pulling him closer in a seemingly intimate gesture, mostly to cover up the fierce expression on his face. “If he’s too crazy to like anyone, are you just going to let him get away with it? You’re an Alpha—don’t you have any balls?” They were so close that Yue Qi could smell the faintly sour honey scent on Da Wang. What should have been a sweet scent was now paired with crude words.

Yue Qi froze. “Can you pronounce it properly? It’s ‘responsibility.’”

“Who cares what I say? I’m just telling you—you’ve got no balls,” Da Wang glared at him again. “If you’re not interested in him, don’t flirt with him for no reason. Su Qing is really pure-hearted. People have chased him before, and he didn’t even notice. Even Qin Yang… forget it, don’t mention him. I’ve been friends with him for so long, and this is the first time I’ve seen him care about someone differently.”

Seeing Yue Qi’s eyes light up, Dawang quickly added, “If you’re going to pursue him, pursue him seriously. But if you’re not into him, then don’t act like you’re interested. We’re watching, and we won’t think it’s his fault if he gets the wrong idea. If you just want to mess around and flirt, then we don’t want you here. Don’t come back. Anyway, he doesn’t feel deeply for you. After a while, he’ll forget about it.”

“What do you mean by ‘forget’? It can’t fade,” Yue Qi rushed to say, almost standing up. “I’m not not pursuing him, I’m just taking it slow so I don’t scare him. Don’t pull me like that. What if people misunderstand?” He reached out to pull Da Wang’s arm off him.

“Don’t touch me. If you do, then it’s you who’s touching me,” Da Wang quickly retorted, and Yue Qi stopped, afraid to cross the line.

Da Wang smiled at Yue Qi mischievously. “I want people to misunderstand. That turtle is begging for a little stimulation.^[1] He just keeps sinking into self-doubt. If he’s sick, he should go get treated…”

“Wait a minute, you said he’s insecure? Insecure about what…” Before Yue Qi could finish his question, he realized the answer himself.

Su Qing’s glandular development was underdeveloped, which, in their eyes as doctors, was simply an issue of a bodily organ not developing properly. It had nothing to do with personal worth or quality. What they were more concerned with was whether it posed a risk to his health. What mattered to Yue Qi was whether this issue was going to cause Su Qing trouble in his daily life.

But Su Qing’s mother had instilled a different set of beliefs in him. She attacked his shortcomings, leading Su Qing, still in early stages of his development, to label himself as defective.

It seemed that this issue had indeed affected him.

“He doesn’t need to feel insecure,” Yue Qi said. “If he cares about it, he can seek treatment. With the advancements in medicine nowadays, what was once impossible may now be possible.”

“Really?” Da Wang’s eyes lit up. “If he gets treated, he’ll definitely be charming.”

Yue Qi smiled. “He’s already charming.”

Da Wang was unexpectedly fed a mouthful of dog food, but he still looked incredibly happy. “Well, that sounds more reasonable. I’m relieved now.”

Yue Qi and Da Wang continued chatting happily, with Da Wang playfully hanging his arm around Yue Qi’s neck, making it look like they were whispering intimately with their foreheads almost touching.

Su Qing, watching from the kitchen through the glass, grew angrier the more he watched. The whole insecurity business had slipped his mind by now. This was his restaurant—if he didn’t like something, he’d kick it out.

Fuming, he pushed open the kitchen door, ready to yell at them. But when he saw Yue Qi’s smiling eyes looking at him, he suddenly froze and couldn’t find the words. Struggling to regain his composure, he turned his cold gaze toward Da wang and said, “That pot of chicken soup is completely dry.”

“What?” Da Wang exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and running toward the kitchen while cursing. “I told you not to touch my kitchen!”

Who told you to touch my… I mean, my guest!

Su Qing returned to the bar counter without saying anything, his face tense as he focused on the menu, making a small fruit coffee for three tables of customers.

“Hey, make something for me too. I’m thirsty,” Yue Qi placed an order at the bar.

“What do you want to drink?” Su Qing asked in a calm tone, clearly asking a question he already knew the answer to.

“You’re the professional, so recommend something to me,” Yue Qi said with a smile. “Let’s see what Boss Su thinks I should drink.”

“How about a cup of honey tea? It’s fragrant and sweet,” Su Qing said, his voice flat but no longer able to conceal the sour tone. At this moment, he just wanted to make a sarcastic suggestion about honey tea.

Wasn’t the conversation going well? Getting thirsty? Do you like Da Wang’s honey-scented vibe? He’s the queen bee, stinging you, you jerk!

“Boss Su thinks honey tea suits me?” Yue Qi feigned surprise. “I actually prefer Jin Xuan.” Yue Qi narrowed his eyes in a smile, trying to flatter him as he asked, “How about I just drink Jin Xuan from now on, is that okay?”

Su Qing lowered his head to brew the tea, ignoring him.

After a while, a large cup of fragrant Jin Xuan oolong tea appeared in front of Yue Qi. The tea was adorned with two or three delicate osmanthus petals floating on top.

Osmanthus and Jin Xuan—such a perfect, meaningful pairing.

Su Qing had been provoked by Dawang, and indeed, he stepped forward.

So what was Yue Qi waiting for?

(To Be Continued…)

---

***
If you enjoy this translation, consider giving it a high rating on Novel Updates! 🩷
Stay tuned, and happy reading! 📖✨