After ending the call with Du Yunyan, Gu Wenxi felt a nagging sense of unease. Du Yunyan had been unusually quiet tonight. Although he was naturally not very talkative, he had become noticeably more chatty after they started dating, even if it was just about trivial matters.

Thinking about it, he couldn’t quite understand and, when asked, Du Yunyan insisted nothing was wrong. Gu Wenxi could only attribute it to fatigue. He himself was exhausted from a busy day, so he didn’t dwell on it long before falling asleep.

The next day at noon, Gu Wenxi encountered an unexpected person at the entrance of the coffee shop below the office building.

The Gu Corporation building was located in a business center with numerous restaurants around. The company itself had a coffee shop on the ground floor, which was popular with employees during lunchtime, often making it difficult to find a seat. Gu Wenxi had a private room, so he didn’t have to wait. As he was about to enter, he recognized the young man standing at the door.

“Mr. Lu?”

“Gu ge?”

Lu Yunchu was Lu Changming’s son, with distinctive features that made him easy to remember: slightly long, curly black hair tied in a half-ponytail, with an extra lock of hair falling beside his right cheek. His delicate appearance could make him look like a woman at first glance, but his voice was deep and slightly hoarse, not matching his looks.

“Here for lunch?” Gu Wenxi asked.

“Yes,” Lu Yunchu seemed to like the place, reluctantly retracting his gaze from inside. “But it’s too crowded, I’ll find somewhere else.”

“Why not join me? I have a private room.” Gu Wenxi didn’t have a good impression of Lu Changming, but Lu Yunchu seemed pleasant enough, and he didn’t mind sharing a meal.

“Wouldn’t I be intruding?”

“Not at all,” Gu Wenxi smiled. “As long as you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Lu Yunchu didn’t hesitate. “Thank you.”

“Please.”

Lu Yunchu was a year younger than him, and according to Gu Wenheng, wasn’t favored by his father, Lu Changming, and might have a peculiar personality. However, after chatting with him for a while, Gu Wenxi found him easy to get along with, quite unlike the arrogant Lu Changming.

After sitting down, Lu Yunchu instinctively reached for a cigarette, but before lighting it, he put it down again, saying, “Sorry, it’s just a habit.”

“No problem,” although Gu Wenxi didn’t like smoking, he could tolerate the smell, “If you want to smoke, go ahead.”

“Forget it, it’s not quite appropriate here.”

With limited time for lunch, Gu Wenxi ordered a simple meal and said to Lu Yunchu, “Feel free to order anything, just put it on my tab.”

“Thanks, Gu ge,” he cheerfully accepted but only ordered the same set meal as Gu Wenxi, “By the way, ge, are you interested in art exhibitions?”

“Somewhat.” Gu Wenxi had a broad range of interests, didn’t mind, and had heard that Lu Yunchu was an artist.

“At the end of next month, there will be an art exhibition at Villa No. 1, Yuanjiang Road. I also have some works exhibited there. If you’re free, you can come over.”

“Really? Then I’ll go take a look.”

Lu Yunchu’s eyes brightened, “I’ll send you an invitation.”

Gu Wenxi added him on WeChat, and soon received the electronic invitation. Initially, he had the intention of showing support, but upon closer inspection, he found that the exhibition was quite high-end. Without the invitation, tickets were very expensive, and there was a limit on the number of attendees, so he might not be able to buy one.

He raised his eyebrows slightly exaggeratedly, “I’m going to make a fortune this time!”

“Huh?”

“I treat you to a meal, and all you ordered was a set lunch, and you’re giving me such an expensive gift.”

“Consider it as making a new friend,” he said generously, “This is an invitation for two, so feel free to bring your girlfriend or boyfriend.”

“Ahem!” Gu Wenxi nearly spurted out water.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

“Nothing,” it was just the first time he had met someone more straightforward than himself, “I actually—”

“You really have a boyfriend?” He hit the nail on the head.

“Yeah.”

“I see,” the surprise on Lu Yunchu’s face was fleeting, “I just said that casually. I thought you were straight.”

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t completely gay either, but Gu Wenxi couldn’t be bothered to explain, “No.”

Lu Yunchu leaned back in his chair, his right hand casually resting on the edge of the table. His upper body was clad in an overly baggy casual shirt. With a slight turn of his head, his left ear, not obscured by his hair, revealed three earrings gleaming faintly. Although it was unreasonable to judge others by their appearance, coupled with his unconventional demeanor and the casual remarks he made, Gu Wenxi couldn’t help but speculate about his sexual orientation.

“That’s fine too,” he continued, “just bring your boyfriend along.”

Gu Wenxi shook his head, “He’s out of town, probably can’t make it.”

“Oh,” Lu Yunchu didn’t inquire further, “No problem, or you can invite Wenheng.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

The meal was served quickly, fish and ribs, two vegetarian dishes, along with rice and soup. Both of them were not dull personalities, and they chatted as they ate.

“I like the taste of your restaurant, it’s light and not greasy.”

“Really?” Gu Wenxi smiled, “Did you specifically come here to eat?”

“Of course not,” Lu Yunchu paused momentarily, mysteriously smiling, “I’m actually here to find a place to live.”

“Find a place?”

“I don’t plan to live at home anymore,” he continued picking fish bones with chopsticks, “There are plenty of apartments nearby, and the location is good.”

Gu Wenxi had been living away from home for a long time, so he could understand. But judging from Lu Yunchu’s tone, it seemed like he had made the decision secretly.

“Did Uncle Lu ask you to find one?”

“Of course not,” he sounded quite headstrong, “Anyway, he won’t be back from Ping County so soon. He can’t control me even if I move out.”

“What did you say?” Gu Wenxi was shaken after hearing it, “Uncle Lu went to Ping County?”

The village where he and Du Yunyan stayed belonged to Ping County. Why would Lu Changming go to such a place?

“Yeah, isn’t there a recently popular village there?”

A popular village…

“Could it be Pingliang Village?”

“Yeah.”

Gu Wenxi was even more puzzled, “Your dad went there on vacation?”

“He’s not interested in that,” Lu Yunchu didn’t hide his disdain, “Probably wants to develop a resort area, so he went to do some inspection or something.”

“You’re saying Uncle Lu— he’s getting into tourism development?” Gu Wenxi had a bad feeling about this. Even if it was about investment, it was quite different from the usual style of the Lu family.

“Probably, I don’t care about it anyway,” Lu Yunchu was unaware of his concerns, “He can do whatever he wants.”

Gu Wenxi had lost his appetite for the meal, and he didn’t pay much attention to what the other person said.

“Don’t forget to come next month,” Lu Yunchu reminded him again before they parted.

As Gu Wenxi nodded, he saw a smile forming at the corner of the other’s lips. There was a fleeting moment where this smile seemed to evoke the demeanor of another person in his mind— eerily similar.

His heart raced, suddenly realizing where the familiar feeling he detected from Lu Changming had come from.

Could it be a coincidence?