Chapter 1205: Love Chronicles of the Millennium Year 10

They soon arrived at the market fair.

The narrow road wouldn't let a vehicle in, so Chen Zhu parked the minivan by the roadside.

The midsummer evening's blue‑stone road gave off a dry scent, the unique smell of having been baked in the sun all day.

Upon entering the market, rows upon rows of big red umbrellas greeted them; under them were stalls of everything—fresh fish and vegetables, clothing and accessories, daily necessities from nearby villages—bustling and crowded.

There were also various openly sold braised delicacies and novelty items rarely seen elsewhere, with dialect‑filled hawking cries ringing nonstop from street to alley end, so hardly anyone could leave empty‑handed.

The small town's lively atmosphere unfolded just like that.

Jin Chen followed behind Chen Zhu, yawning; the evening's heat intensified at that moment, yet everyone was still excited.

There were quite a few people; after glancing around, Jin Chen walked up front and stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Chen Zhu, then directly took his hand.

But as soon as they held hands, Chen Zhu felt eyes on them; at home it would be fine, but outside he couldn't let them misunderstand—Xiao Chen was clearly good, and he couldn't let his reputation suffer too.

So Chen Zhu pulled his hand back.

"What are you doing?"

Jin Chen was already feeling sulky, and when his hand was pulled away he immediately stopped, dissatisfied.

Chen Zhu hurried to soothe him, saying, "There are lots of people here; I'm worried you'll feel hot."

"I'm not hot; they're holding hands too, aren't they?"

Jin Chen lifted his chin to point ahead; looking over, he saw a big and a small person holding hands.

They looked like a father and son, or brothers with a large age gap.

Chen Zhu sighed, "You're not a child; you won't get lost in the market."

"Wow, you now know I'm an adult."

Jin Chen hummed twice, reached out and gripped Chen Zhu's wrist tightly, saying, "Too late!"

Chen Zhu felt helpless, but it was worth letting him have his way.

The gripped wrist burned with an abnormal heat.

Even though they had hugged for a long time that afternoon, Chen Zhu had thought it was enough for the day; he hadn't expected that merely having his wrist held would still send a fine tingling sensation spreading through him.

Holding hands could be pleasant and exciting, but this was outdoors, and the subtle feeling and emotion were mixed with a hint of helplessness.

Chen Zhu could only force himself to shift his attention to the goods on the stalls.

He led Jin Chen to a stop in front of the braised‑food stall.

"Xiao Chen, want to try a bite? If you like something, you can have it with noodles in the morning."

Chen Zhu took the chopsticks the vendor handed over and gave them a toss; the plate was piled high with chili‑flavored coating wrapping assorted dried tofu and jellyfish strips, plus meat items like chicken legs and duck necks, soaked in red‑oil sauce, the spicy aroma wafting up and making mouths water.

Jin Chen obediently opened his mouth and said, "Ah."

Chen Zhu supported it with his left hand, first feeding him a bit of vegetarian dried tofu, and asked, "How is it?"

Jin Chen: '…hiss.'

"It's really spicy."

He puffed his cheeks and said, "Get something not spicy."

"Okay," Chen Zhu saw him sweating from the spice, couldn't help finding it a bit funny, instinctively wiped Jin Chen's forehead with a napkin, ordered some mildly spicy cold dish, and bought a bottle of cola to hand over.

Jin Chen, already treated like a little cub by Chen Zhu, accepted everything; their interaction was exceptionally natural, and they seemed so in sync that they didn't notice the people behind them.

Li Shao's strange feeling grew stronger; although the two called each other brother, their relationship was overly ambiguous, especially Chen Zhu, whose overt and covert concern and care for Jin Chen were almost closer than that of real brothers.

This made him inevitably think of what Zhao Weifang had said about Chen Zhu's story.

He had just driven away someone who liked him, yet could he really feel at ease liking someone else?

Those who don't respect love don't deserve true love.

The more Li Shao thought about it, the more he felt this was right; because of the circulating stories, he looked down on Chen Zhu from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing that Chen Zhu was present today, Li Shao figured Jin Chen would hardly notice him, so he casually made an excuse and separated from them.

Coincidentally, at a stall on the other side he saw Zhao Weifang and Zhao Yuyu.

Li Shao, guitar on his back, casually spent two bucks on a plastic bubble‑blowing tube nearby, walked over, and pretended not to have noticed them.

But the little girl had sharp eyes, she patted Zhao Weifang's arm and shouted, "Second brother, it's Shao‑gege!"

Zhao Yuyu liked this new tutor brother very much, and immediately waved to summon Li Shao over.

Li Shao naturally handed over the bubble water he had just bought, smiling, "You guys are actually here too, and you were planning to give this to Yuyu tomorrow, right?"

"Thanks!"

Zhao Yuyu happily took it; it wasn't because she loved blowing bubbles so much—after all, she's just a little girl—but she couldn't help feeling delighted at the attention of the older, handsome brother.

Zhao Weifang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, drawled in a carefree tone, "How can we be considered half‑friends and yet you haven't given me anything?"

"Of course there is, but what I'm giving you is secret for now—I'll tell you tomorrow."

When speaking, Li Shao liked to smile and look into the other's eyes, which undoubtedly added a lot of credibility.

Even though he had prepared nothing at all.

Thus, after merely spending two bucks on bubble water, he received the leather shoes Zhao Weifang had bought on the spot, worth eighty bucks.

Li Shao also, based on the shoes' price, thought of a suitable return gift from the trinkets he had brought back to play with.

Over here their chat was pleasant and harmonious.

After Li Shao left, Jin Chen's spirits were visibly lifted.

Like a koala clinging to Chen Zhu's back, he was also obedient—whatever was suggested, he'd try; buying things for Chen Zhu became even simpler and direct, holding a T‑shirt up to Chen Zhu's chest, if he liked it he bought it, without any haggling.

But Chen Zhu gradually noticed that the clothes Jin Chen picked for him seemed to be one size larger.

"Buy the larger size."

Jin Chen's possessiveness flared; he whispered in Chen Zhu's ear, "Because your build is too great."

Chen Zhu: '…'

Although nothing was specifically pointed out, I immediately understood what Xiao Chen was saying.

His ears were about to turn red; he grabbed Jin Chen's nape and shoved him off, saying, "Alright, why talk about this in public?"

"Is that what you want to ask?"

Jin Chen shrugged, his mind as wicked as could be, yet he still kept up a harmless, cool act.

All the random thoughts were left to Chen Zhu.

The two were like on a shopping spree; Jin Chen wanted to buy whatever he saw, especially novelties, and he shoved them all at Chen Zhu to try.

Upon reaching an antique stall, Jin Chen's gaze was drawn—not only were almost all the antiques and jade genuine, but there were also three vendors.

A girl in a Bohemian-style long dress, with blue eyeshadow, stood in front, displaying various beautiful jade pieces; the two men to her left also had remarkable bearing.

Jin Chen glanced at that girl several times, his gaze shifting from doubt to probing.

Chen Zhu also noticed the clue, following Jin Chen's gaze over, he hesitated and narrowed his eyes.

【Hey! Host, what are you doing?】

Love Defender 0731 appeared instantly.

【Don't you think this girl and the jacket-wearing man beside her are the boss mentioned later in the original plot, who leads the whole town toward becoming a prosperous city?】

Jin Chen withdrew his gaze, his fingertips idly fiddling at the stall, as if selecting something.

【Oh right right!! Host, you've got an eye for treasure! Now is exactly the time they just suffered a failed investment, losing all their wealth!】

【Host, let's go! We'll beat that despicable main character to the punch and give them a huge investment! Become partners and head for the international peak!】

Jin Chen's mouth twitched as he picked out a few bracelets that looked valuable.

"How much?"

"Eh, let me have a look."

Lan Xin took the bracelets, smiled, and said, "That's three thousand altogether, sir."

If priced according to the market outside, three thousand couldn't even buy a single bracelet; it's indeed a dirt-cheap price.

But in such a market, nobody would take it as genuine.

"Xiao Chen..." "It's fine, brother, I know my limits."