Chapter 1224

Chen Zhu waited patiently for them to finish kissing and return to their room before leaving, flipping through a photo in the album each step down the stairs.

「Brother? 」

Hearing Jin Chen's voice, the gloom on Chen Zhu's face dissipated; he put away his phone and quickened his pace.

「Here. 」

Jin Chen turned back, took Chen Zhu's hand and led him down, naturally putting an arm around his waist and pressing lightly.

「Where did you go, Brother? I thought you were resting at home. 」

「I went to the rooftop to deal with something. 」

Thinking of the rope that had been dealt with, Chen Zhu couldn't help recalling last night's frenzy; his warm complexion flushed a bit more. As he reached his doorstep, the neighbor's door suddenly swung open.

Li Shao leaned against the door; the poorly soundproof door let him faintly hear Chen Zhu's earlier words, his face suspicious and flustered.

「Did Chen Dage just go to the rooftop? 」

What a strange expression—did he do something bad so his brother would see?

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Chen Zhu with interest.

「Yeah, no one's been up on the rooftop in a while—I even thought I heard mice squeaking. 」

Chen Zhu smiled, eyes crinkling, his demeanor still gentle: "Why are you asking this? Could it be you were also on the rooftop?"

Li Shao wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt Chen Zhu's mention of mice had a hidden meaning; still, not seeing anything was fine.

He let out a breath of relief and quickly shook his head.

「No, I just heard my grandma say the rooftop is pretty dirty, so I was curious. 」

After Li Shao finished speaking, he glanced again at Chen Zhu and Jin Chen's unguarded, entwined posture, a flicker of unwillingness flashing in his eyes,

He turned and went inside.

Jin Chen opened his own door and went in, lightly kissing Chen Zhu's face: "Brother, what did you just see?"

Such an obvious sarcasm—only Li Shao failed to catch it.

Chen Zhu showed him the phone album; before he could speak, Jin Chen said, "Wow, if Zhao Weifang causes trouble again, we'll just slap this thing on the downstairs notice board."

「It's just a bit eyesore, Brother, you've worked hard. 」

Jin Chen found another excuse to kiss Chen Zhu's eyelids.

Chen Zhu slightly pursed his lips, relaxed his hold on Jin Chen's shoulders—perhaps because he didn't need to hide anything in front of him, making this moment feel especially rare.

「Bao Bao seems to have… gotten taller lately. 」

He gestured at Jin Chen's forehead, eyes crinkling with a smile: "When we first met, you were secretly comparing heights, weren't you?"

Jin Chen gave a soft cough, always admiring his wife's attentiveness.

「Brother, hurry up and eat—last night was so exhausting, you don't need to cook today. 」

Chen Zhu: "……"

His somewhat stiff back leaned against the Sofa backrest, he pinched Jin Chen's earlobe in annoyance, successfully shifting the topic.

He ate his meal slowly, while Jin Chen went to the fridge, sliced half a watermelon, and ate it while speaking.

「Brother, I wasn't joking last night—I want to take you to Jing Shi for treatment. 」

Upon hearing that, Chen Zhu lowered his eyes and gripped his bamboo skewer chopsticks tighter; as a patient, he instinctively resisted talk of treatment and doctors, yet he also knew that the medicine prescribed by doctors in the neighboring city had become less and less effective, destined not to last a lifetime.

「I'm not ready yet. 」

His voice was low, allowing himself to show vulnerability in front of Jin Chen.

Hardly had he finished speaking when Jin Chen pulled him into an embrace, his coquettish tactics never failing.

「Don't you want to be with me? Even though things are fine now, I still want you to be healthy. 」

Chen Zhu silently curled his lip, raised a hand to gently rub the head nestled against his neck, and was convinced by Jin Chen's reasoning.

「Okay, I promise you. 」

「Wait for Zhou Zhu and the others to come back and pick up the last batch of stockpiled goods, then we can set off. 」

Jin Chen spoke lightly, snuggling close: "You don't need to worry about the shop either—I've already told Liuqing, and he and his partner will keep an eye on things."

「Even if Zhao Weifang wants to cause trouble, there are still those few security guards. 」

——

Life now had something to look forward to, and Chen Zhu's mental state had improved considerably compared to before.

In the days that followed, he and Jin Chen remained inseparable every day, except that these few days Jin Chen needed to inspect the goods left by Zhang Zhu in the old warehouse on the town's outskirts, so he would be away from the shop for a period each afternoon.

Coincidentally, that afternoon an uninvited guest came to the shop.

Since Zhaolong colluded with Zhang Zhu to go into the jade business, he has been using his old methods to skim a lot of profit; the profit margin on jade is inherently large, with a single order starting at over ten, and he can also disguise himself, so each time he manages to pull it off flawlessly.

Life was getting more and more enjoyable; occasionally he would go to the casino under the pretext of taking a day off to win a couple of rounds without being discovered. Now that he heard Zhang Zhu was coming back to pick up the remaining goods, this was indeed a perfect opportunity to 'return home in glory'.

Just after arriving home in the morning, he learned from Zhao Weifang about Chen Zhu's recent situation; hearing that he had attached himself to a wealthy person from Jing Shi, he immediately felt disdainful and doubtful.

Those rich second-generation heirs from Jing Shi—he had also come into contact with quite a few of them lately; each one is arrogant beyond measure, and even if they also like men, how could they take a liking to someone like Chen Zhu?

But upon thinking of Chen Zhu, Zhaolong recalled the embarrassment he had once suffered at his hands, and that afternoon he went to the shop.

—— 'Zhao Weifang, Li Shao, and lackeys keep out…'

The loudspeaker at the shop entrance continued to play on a loop; Zhaolong was speechless for a few seconds, and just as he was about to push the door open, he saw the owners of the surrounding shops giving him strange looks, all coming out to gather and watch.

"Isn't that Zhaolong? Wow, you've really changed your appearance—I almost didn't recognize you."

"Yeah, if you ask me, you should go to the big city—look, your spirit and energy are completely different now."

Zhaolong felt a bit light‑headed from their praise, and after exchanging a few pleasantries he heard the hardware store owner's wife speak in a sarcastic, backhanded way.

"But what are you doing here again? I told you, that kid Jin Chen is not someone to mess with."

Zhaolong didn't take it to heart and walked straight in, pushing the door open.

"Hello, what do you need…"

Chen Zhu's voice halted as he looked up and saw the comer; it instantly turned icy.

Get out.

He immediately rose from behind the counter, his expression wary and rejecting.

"Don't overreact," Zhaolong sneered, full of mockery, "During the time I was away, you must have gotten plenty of sideways glances; I'd say you deserved it—if you'd followed me earlier, you'd be living the good life by now."

Chen Zhu remained expressionless, slamming an iron plate onto the counter with a clack.

Zhaolong: "..."

He instinctively stepped back two paces, the scarred forehead throbbing faintly.

"What are you doing?!"

"Get out, can't you understand?"

Chen Zhu lowered his brows and eyes; his gentle demeanor was replaced by gloom and coldness.

"Damn it, stop pretending you've got face when you don't—your reputation's already stink; you might as well—uh!"

Zhaolong was suddenly looped by a rope from behind around his throat, dragged off unprepared, his face flushing red as he kicked his feet against the ground.

"Where did this beggar come from?"

Jin Chen's voice rang clear; he dragged the person out and tied them tight in the corner.

"Who are you, making all this noise for what?"