Chapter 69: Brush Your Teeth Well

On their way to find the shelves with toiletries, they came across a young couple.

The girl was sitting cross-legged in the shopping cart, holding two matching mouthwash cups, while the boy pushed the cart past them.

Lin Hexi’s gaze briefly swept over the style of the cups in the girl’s arms.

Noticing where his eyes went, You Chong subtly raised his eyebrow. “Do you want to sit in the cart too?”

Lin Hexi responded with an exaggerated expression, “If I sat in the cart, I’d probably break it.”

You Chong chuckled softly, “A shopping cart isn’t that expensive.”

Lin Hexi was momentarily at a loss for words. When they found the section with mouthwash cups, he pointed at the same style the young couple had picked and said with a smile, “I’ll take the blue one, and you can use the pink one. How about that?”

“Not happening.” You Chong’s expression changed instantly. “You keep the pink one for yourself.”

Seeing You Chong’s look as if he was facing a great enemy, Lin Hexi almost laughed but managed to hold it in. He then pointed at another set of matching cups nearby, “Then you use the one with the rabbit design, and I’ll take the tiger.”

You Chong looked even more exasperated, “I’m not using the rabbit either.”

Lin Hexi sighed in disappointment, his round, dark eyes fixed intently on You Chong. “Don’t you want to use matching sets with me?”

Knowing that Lin Hexi was just putting on an act, You Chong found it impossible to keep a straight face when faced with Lin Hexi’s bright, shining eyes, paired with his soft, obedient-looking short black hair. He could only turn his head away, feeling both annoyed and amused, and said, “We’re not women. Why use pink and rabbits? Can’t you pick something with colors and designs that I can actually use?”

Lin Hexi’s disappointment was even more apparent in his voice: “But these are the only two matching sets on this shelf.”

You Chong was silent for a moment before finally giving in, “Fine, let’s buy them.”

Lin Hexi’s expression changed in an instant, beaming as he asked, “Do you want the pink or the rabbit design?”

Without correcting him, You Chong replied casually, “Which do you prefer, pink or rabbits?”

Without much thought, Lin Hexi pondered briefly, then smiled and said, “Let’s go with the pink.”

You Chong picked up the two cups from the shelf and placed them in the shopping cart, maintaining a calm expression throughout the process.

Somewhat skeptical of how readily You Chong accepted the pink, Lin Hexi subtly raised his eyes to observe him.

Instead of catching any unusual reaction, he was caught red-handed by You Chong.

You Chong narrowed his eyes with a hint of something unreadable, scrutinizing him meaningfully. “What are you looking at? Or are you up to something again?”

Feeling a bit guilty, Lin Hexi quickly withdrew his gaze and turned to walk ahead, completely unaware that You Chong, standing behind him, was watching his back thoughtfully, with the corners of his lips curling slightly.

They bought some other household items, went to the underground parking lot to put their things away, and then took the elevator up to a restaurant on the mall’s upper floor for dinner.

As they were waiting for the elevator after leaving the mall, they ran into Lin Tong and the Lin family’s driver.

Lin Tong excitedly ran over to greet You Chong but then asked with some disappointment, “Brother Chong, I saw you on my birthday, but why did you leave early?”

You Chong replied, “Something came up unexpectedly.”

Lin Tong nodded and didn’t press further. Finally, he shifted his gaze to Lin Hexi, who was standing next to You Chong, and frowned in displeasure, “What are you doing here?”

Lin Hexi wore a broad smile and deliberately mimicked his tone, “I’m shopping at the mall with Brother Chong.”

Lin Tong was indeed provoked by his words and glared at him, asking, “Just the two of you?”

Lin Hexi nodded with a smile, emphasizing each word, “Just the two of us.”

Furious, Lin Tong stopped talking to him altogether and instead turned to You Chong, asking, “Brother Chong, what did you come here to buy?”

You Chong replied, “Just buying some daily necessities.”

Lin Tong was momentarily stunned, feeling instinctively that something was off. “You two came to buy daily necessities?”

You Chong didn’t respond further.

Just then, the elevator arrived at their floor. You Chong said a brief goodbye to Lin Tong and stepped inside.

Lin Hexi followed behind You Chong, then turned around and lazily waved at Lin Tong, who was standing outside the elevator. Before the doors closed, he flashed Lin Tong a meaningful smile, “Not only did we come shopping together, but we’re also going to have dinner together.”

Lin Tong was furious, but he could only stand there glaring at Lin Hexi.

Inside the elevator, it was just the two of them as it descended floor by floor. Lin Hexi turned sideways, glancing up at You Chong, who was standing diagonally behind him.

As he noticed, You Chong turned his head and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

Lin Hexi chuckled, half-jokingly and half-seriously adding, “I’m just worried you’ll say I’m bullying him again.”

You Chong shot him a glance, raising his eyebrows slightly, “When have I ever said you were bullying him?”

“I guess you never really said it,” Lin Hexi remarked, looking both surprised and puzzled. “But haven’t you always been close with Lin Tong?”

You Chong replied, “That was before I fell for you.”

Lin Hexi instinctively looked at him.

“You don’t get along with him, right?” You Chong said dismissively, “Do you think I’d be dumb enough not to know what’s more important between you and him?”

Lin Hexi couldn’t help but let the corners of his lips curl up.

“Besides,” You Chong frowned, “even though Lin Tong isn’t a bad person at heart, he’s at an age where he should start learning to be more mature.”

They returned to the parking lot to drop off their purchases, then went up to the rooftop restaurant for dinner, finally arriving at You Chong’s home just before nine in the evening.

As Lin Hexi took the items out of the bags to put them away, their Alaskan dog curiously poked its head over, trying to grab a cup from the bag to play with.

After pulling the dog away from the bag, You Chong sat down between the bag and the dog. “Did you post the sublease notice?”

Lin Hexi replied, “Yes, I did.”

You Chong turned to rub the head of the Alaskan dog, which had come over again. Lin Hexi came out of the bathroom, squatted in front of You Chong with his chin resting on his hand, and asked with a smile, “Are you eager for me to move in quickly?”

You Chong leisurely countered, “We’ve already bought everything. Are we just going to leave it here unused?”

“That’s true,” Lin Hexi nodded seriously, then raised his eyebrow and bluntly reminded, “But whether I move in or not has nothing to do with whether the apartment is rented out.”

He smiled slyly, “Even if the apartment isn’t rented out, I can still move in.”

Hearing this, You Chong’s lips curled slightly. He patted Lin Hexi’s face casually and said, “Since you’re so eager to move in with me, why not start tonight?”

Only then did Lin Hexi realize he had been outmaneuvered by You Chong. He squinted his eyes slightly, “Who was the one who first suggested I move in? I think the person involved knows very well.”

However, You Chong was in a good mood and didn’t bother to argue over the minor details. He lazily said, “Fine, I was the one who suggested it first. When are you going downstairs to get your stuff?”

Lin Hexi stood up, satisfied. “I’ll go right now.”

He was gone for less than ten minutes and returned with a change of clothes, pants, and a toothbrush.

The two of them took turns showering in the bathroom and then sat on the living room sofa to finish watching a movie together.

By the time the ending credits rolled, it was already late at night.

You Chong went to brush his teeth first, and Lin Hexi followed after turning off the projector.

As soon as he entered, he saw You Chong holding the blue mouthwash cup, standing in front of the mirror brushing his teeth.

Lin Hexi immediately realized why You Chong hadn’t insisted on refusing or stopping him when they were buying the cups at the mall earlier. He was at a loss for words, “Weren’t we supposed to agree that you’d use the pink one and I’d use the blue one?”

You Chong glanced at him through the mirror, unable to speak with his mouth full of foam, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Lin Hexi’s gaze fell on the blue cup in You Chong’s hand, and he let out a light scoff. While holding onto You Chong’s arm, he bent down, pressed his lips to the rim of the cup, took a sip of water, and spat it into the sink. Then, he straightened up and declared, “I’ve used this cup, so now it’s mine.”

You Chong raised his eyebrow at him silently, bent down to spit out the toothpaste foam from his mouth, and without a change in his expression, turned the cup around. He pressed his lips exactly where Lin Hexi had just drunk from and took a sip to rinse his mouth.

Lin Hexi stood by without a word, feeling challenged.

Only after You Chong had finished his entire brushing routine did Lin Hexi slowly squeeze toothpaste onto his own toothbrush.

You Chong didn’t hurry to leave. Instead, he filled the pink cup with water, handed it to Lin Hexi, and slowly reminded him with a smirk, “Make sure you don’t grab the wrong one again.”

Lin Hexi paused for a second, his expression unchanged. He calmly set the cup down and raised his electric toothbrush, feigning confusion, “Is my toothbrush broken?”

You Chong didn’t move, staring at Lin Hexi’s face, which was adept at deceiving, for a moment, and said with a skeptical tone, “Really?”

Lin Hexi looked at him expectantly, “Actually, I’m not too sure. Why don’t you come over and check for me?”

You Chong’s expression was cautious and suspicious, “Press the switch.”

Lin Hexi placed his thumb over the toothbrush switch and seemed to press down lightly, but the toothbrush didn’t respond.

Only then did You Chong drop his suspicion and reach out to take the toothbrush.

However, Lin Hexi suddenly shifted the hand holding the toothbrush, dodging You Chong’s hand. In one swift motion, he wrapped his other arm tightly around You Chong’s neck and quickly pressed his lips against You Chong’s.

Before You Chong could react, Lin Hexi’s tongue forcefully pried open You Chong’s teeth, agilely and swiftly exploring, running over each of You Chong’s teeth.

Two seconds later, Lin Hexi pulled back with a broad smile on his face. He grabbed the blue cup next to the pink one, filled it with water, and handed it to You Chong. “Now we’re even.”

After coming back to his senses, You Chong chuckled softly, picked up his toothbrush, and started brushing his teeth for the second time.