The exhibition the next day was held in a two-story villa specifically used for such events. Gu Wenxi and Du Yunyan entered early with their electronic invitations.

The exhibition mainly featured paintings and sculptures, with both well-established artists and emerging talents, such as Lu Yunchu, who had two sculptures on display.

“Hey, Gu ge!” Lu Yunchu was also at the scene and immediately spotted them. His gaze lingered on Gu Wenxi for a moment before turning to Du Yunyan beside him, lowering his voice, “Is this your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

Du Yunyan met Lu Yunchu’s gaze, then looked at Lu Yunchu and nodded with a faint smile. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Gu Wenxi, who was already handsome, coupled with Du Yunyan’s appearance, surprised Lu Yunchu, who couldn’t help but praise, “You two are a perfect match.”

“Thank you.”

As for Du Yunyan’s other identity, they hadn’t planned to reveal it to this young man. Their meeting today was only because Lu Yunchu was Gu Wenxi’s friend, and they didn’t need Lu Changming as a link.

“Oh, is this your work?” Gu Wenxi pointed to a peculiarly shaped sculpture not far away, seeing Lu Yunchu’s name on the signboard introducing the author.

“Yes,” the young man proudly looked at his work, “Is it good?”

His bold and avant-garde style of creation was indeed rare. Gu Wenxi exclaimed, “Yeah, it’s really great, I like it.” Knowing that his hobby wasn’t approved by his father and that he had sneaked out to study abroad, Gu Wenxi couldn’t help but sigh. Lu Changming deserved to have a son who could talk back to him.

While they were chatting, Du Yunyan walked around to the other side of the work to take a closer look, showing a strong interest.

“Yunchu!”

Since the number of visitors in the hall was limited, everyone consciously kept quiet, so the sudden voice from behind seemed a bit abrupt.

“Dad?” Lu Yunchu turned around, surprised, “How did you come here?”

“Of course, I—” Lu Changming’s gaze shifted to Gu Wenxi and Du Yunyan beside him, and he was suddenly stunned, forgetting what he was going to say.

Lu Yunchu continued, “You didn’t come to see my exhibition, did you?”

“Hmph,” Lu Changming recovered and frowned at him, “A client gave me the tickets, I didn’t even know you were exhibiting.” There was no hint of joy in his tone, but rather a hint of gritted teeth.

“I guessed as much,” Lu Yunchu said indifferently, “If you knew, you wouldn’t have come. It’s already good enough if you don’t ask someone to kick me out.”

“You—” Lu Changming was face-conscious, very dissatisfied with Lu Yunchu’s opposition in public, but hesitated to explode.

“Uncle Lu,” Gu Wenxi said with a half-smile, half-serious tone, “Hello, we meet again.” Du Yunyan, on the other hand, remained silent as if he didn’t know this person at all, serving as a backdrop.

Lu Changming threw a sharp glance at Du Yunyan, then looked back at Lu Yunchu. “Do you know each other?”

“Oh,” Lu Yunchu didn’t understand the grudge between his dad and Du Yunyan, and introduced in a casual manner, “I’m good friends with Gu ge. And this one—” he gestured towards Du Yunyan, “is his boyfriend.”

Lu Changming’s eyes widened, unable to speak for a while, as they stood in their little corner.

After scanning around for a while, he asked Du Yunyan with a flushed neck, “So, the boyfriend you mentioned is actually the young master of the Gu family?”

“Yes,” Du Yunyan replied straightforwardly.

“Du Yunyan, you’re quite something,” he whispered as if suddenly enlightened, “No wonder the Gu family intervened in that matter…”

Gu Wenxi remained calm and composed, while Lu Yunchu, realizing late, asked Lu Changming, “Do you know him?”

“More than just knowing him, he—” Lu Changming pointed at Du Yunyan, hesitating for a while without saying the next word, perhaps realizing the awkwardness of their relationship.

However, Lu Yunchu was clever. He wasn’t completely unaware of his father’s past. Seeing his reaction, he basically guessed it and deliberately said to Lu Changming, “Since you know him, why don’t we all sit down and have coffee together? It seems like the four of us are fated to meet.”

In the quiet exhibition hall, the slightly tense conversation between them had already attracted some onlookers’ attention. Although Lu Changming’s anger was nearing its limit, he still cared about his reputation. He forcefully suppressed his voice and said, “You’re ruthless.”

It wasn’t clear if he was talking to Lu Yunchu or Du Yunyan. After dropping this remark, he turned and walked towards the exit, apparently not intending to stay here any longer. Lu Yunchu smiled with relief and said to Gu Wenxi and Du Yunyan, “It looks like it’s just the three of us going for coffee.”

There was a coffee shop next to the exhibition hall.

“Indeed.” Lu Yunchu sighed slightly after hearing the two explain the situation, his hands crossed under his chin.

“I’m sorry,” Du Yunyan said, “We kept it from you because I didn’t want to have any connection with that person.”

“I understand,” Lu Yunchu shrugged, “If I could, I wouldn’t want this identity either.” He carefully looked at Du Yunyan again, “Let’s not treat each other as brothers. If you don’t mind, you can consider me a friend.”

“Okay.” A faint sense of relief swept away the subtleties in Du Yunyan’s heart. Apart from their blood relationship, the two of them could indeed interact easily as friends.

“Well,” Lu Yunchu finished his coffee, “I have an appointment with some teachers later. I can’t accompany you for dinner. You two enjoy your time together.”

Gu Wenxi nodded, “Thank you, we’ll have dinner together another time.”

Lu Changming’s arrival briefly disrupted their enjoyment of the exhibition, but afterwards, the relationship between the three of them became even closer. Just imagining Lu Changming’s infuriated reaction behind the scenes made Gu Wenxi gloat, uncontrollably bursting into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Du Yunyan looked at his expression, thinking he was up to something mischievous.

Exiting the exhibition hall, it was getting late, so they found a restaurant on the roadside for dinner.

Gu Wenxi didn’t want to mention Lu Changming, “I’m just happy that you’re here.”

“Who would believe that,” he chuckled while helping him to a lot of fish, “Let’s eat.”

This was a grilled fish restaurant. The grilled fish was served with vegetables and stewed together, with a slightly spicy taste. Du Yunyan picked out most of the fish for Gu Wenxi, while he mainly ate the vegetables.

“You still don’t like eating meat?” Gu Wenxi asked.

“Yeah.”

“Coming here is mainly for the fish,” Gu Wenxi picked out some more for him, smugly saying, “No wonder you’re not as tall as me if you don’t like eating meat.”

“No matter how much I eat now, I’ll never be taller than you.”

There were many families going out together on Sundays, and the table in front of them and the one on the left were both three-member families with children. You could always hear the children shouting about the spiciness.

Du Yunyan glanced to the side. When he was a child, he had only gone out with his mother. There was a time when he envied the children who went out with their parents. When he realized that being alone with his mother was a scar deep in her heart that could never bring her happiness, he gradually gave up such thoughts.

“Where else do you want to go tomorrow? I’ll accompany you,” Gu Wenxi raised his head, with tiny beads of sweat on his nose.

“Tomorrow’s Monday, you should focus on work,” Du Yunyan reminded him, “I’ll wait for you at home.”

As expected, Du Yunyan’s response was as composed as ever, not much different from the past. Gu Wenxi also understood the priorities, “Then I’ll finish what needs to be done quickly. How about we go out again before you leave?”

“Okay.” Du Yunyan lowered his head and smiled.

If it were up to him, even if he stayed at home every day, he wouldn’t feel bored; Gu Wenxi was much more active in this regard, having been to many places and knowing many people. He had once doubted his mind as to whether they could really get along, but Gu Wenxi always said it was complementary.

Maybe. At least now he felt like his life had gained an indelible and weighty color.

Coming out of the restaurant, they drove back to the apartment. There was a popular ice cream shop opposite the apartment, and after parking the car, Gu Wenxi dragged Du Yunyan out to buy ice cream.

The shop offered various fancy ice creams, but it was more convenient to take away a waffle cone. While waiting in line, they glanced at the menu board above the counter, picking out flavors they were interested in.

The two girls in front ordered durian flavor, which had a strong smell. Gu Wenxi covered his nose slightly, tugged on Du Yunyan’s arm, and whispered in his ear, “How about I get a durian flavor too?”

“Whatever you want,” Du Yunyan glanced at him, “but you can’t kiss me tonight.” His voice was low, audible only to the two of them.

Gu Wenxi: “…”

The server handed Du Yunyan a vanilla-flavored cone and asked Gu Wenxi which one he wanted.

“…I’ll also have a vanilla one.”

After walking out of the shop, Du Yunyan casually asked, “You’re not getting durian anymore?”

“Do you really think I like durian? I just wanted to see how sincere you were,” Gu Wenxi pretended to be disappointed, “Sigh, I guess you can’t pass the test.”

Du Yunyan shrugged, “I was just joking. You can just brush your teeth, right?” Taking a small bite of the pale ice cream ball, he added, “It was your own decision to give it up.”

“But I still have to brush my teeth, don’t I?”

“So, do you not brush your teeth every day?”

“When have I not brushed my teeth?”

“So, what are you arguing about?”

…

They bantered back and forth, engaging in pointless arguments.

“Wenxi,” Du Yunyan suddenly stopped on the steps, waiting for the ice cream in his mouth to melt, “It’s very sweet.”

“The ice cream?” Gu Wenxi took a big bite, “I told you this place is good.”

“It’s not just the ice cream.” Du Yunyan muttered to himself, stepping into the apartment building.

Gu Wenxi didn’t hear him.

^[1]Author’s Note:

The next chapter will conclude the story.