Lu Youze tried his best to control his facial expressions, but it was so hilarious that he couldn’t stop looking at his friend with a gaze that could only be described as one reserved for an idiot.

Half an hour ago, he was about to go to sleep, but before he could snuggle up with his pillow, he was urgently dragged into the car by Gu Xuanhao. Seeing Gu Xuanhao’s anxious and nervous expression, Lu Youze thought something serious had happened, but no matter how much he asked, all Gu Xuanhao said was that he would explain when they got to his house, which kept him on edge the whole time.

And then? Then, he found himself standing in the Gu family’s restaurant, where Gu Xuanhao, grinning like a fool, told him that his brother had prepared a feast and invited him to have breakfast. Lu Youze could only feel a throbbing pain at his temples. For the first time, he admired his own patience, as he somehow managed not to punch Gu Xuanhao in the handsome face.

“Lu Youze, what are you standing there for?” Seeing Lu Youze still frozen in place, Gu Xuanhao couldn’t help but urge, “Hurry up and sit down. The food will get cold, and it’ll be a waste of my brother’s cooking.”

Lu Youze felt like a big fool.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” he said, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Oh, we have spare toiletries at my house. Come on, I’ll take you there.” Gu Xuanhao wasn’t really dumb; he could definitely sense the cold air around Lu Youze. But for the sake of his older brother’s happiness, he pretended not to notice and decided to do whatever it took to get Lu Youze to enjoy the meal his brother had prepared.

“Heh.” Lu Youze forced a smile and followed Gu Xuanhao.

The other person in the restaurant had been acting distant since they arrived, but their cold demeanor didn’t really connect them to the chaos. Most importantly, after that phone call, Lu Youze wasn’t too keen on being alone with Gu Xuanze just yet.

From the moment Lu Youze entered the restaurant, Gu Xuanze had been tense, though his outward composure remained. After Lu Youze left, he finally relaxed a little and leaned back in his chair. He thought to himself that Lu Youze was indeed angry, but in this situation, it would have been strange if he weren’t. He looked at the table full of carefully prepared dishes and couldn’t help but soften his gaze. He hoped that Lu Youze would like them.

Five minutes later, Gu Xuanhao brought Lu Youze back to the restaurant. After washing up, Lu Youze felt a bit better and was in a better mood. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t slept all night, and his emotions had been on a rollercoaster, but now, feeling slightly hungry, he started to find the spread of food appealing.

As soon as Lu Youze entered the restaurant, Gu Xuanze stood up immediately. He gentlemanly pulled out the chair for Lu Youze and let him sit first before sitting down beside him. Gu Xuanhao, with an aunt-like grin, watched them before sitting across from them.

“Mr. Gu.” Lu Youze looked at the table full of beautifully prepared dishes and turned to Gu Xuanze, his eyes filled with surprise, “Did you really make all of this?”

When Lu Youze turned his head, their eyes met, and for a moment, his heart skipped a beat. He felt like his heart had suddenly sped up. Gu Xuanze had apparently removed his suit jacket and was simply wearing a white shirt. Perhaps it was the heat from preparing the meal, but his sleeves were rolled up, and the top two buttons were undone, exposing his alluring collarbones.

Lu Youze couldn’t help but glance again, even unconsciously swallowing, though he wasn’t sure if it was due to the food or the handsome man in front of him. Gu Xuanze was indeed good-looking, but because his presence was so dominant, most people would be intimidated by his aura and wouldn’t pay attention to his striking looks or overly perfect figure.

“That’s right, all of these were made by my brother.”

Gu Xuanhao’s excited voice snapped the two of them out of the awkward atmosphere. Trying to hide his own discomfort, Lu Youze quickly shifted his gaze to Gu Xuanhao and pretended to listen seriously.

However, he could still feel the intense gaze from beside him. Gu Xuanze was indeed acting strange tonight. Lu Youze’s mouth felt dry, and no matter what Gu Xuanhao was saying, he wasn’t really paying attention.

Gu Xuanhao noticed the strange tension between them and, as if by some unique gift, this second young master, who had no common sense in life and never bothered to read people’s expressions, was actually sensitive enough to detect the ambiguous atmosphere between them.

Unfortunately, this gift didn’t seem to work on him. Otherwise, Ye Xing wouldn’t have been seen as a fool after all these years in Gu Xuanhao’s eyes.

“Big Brother.” Gu Xuanhao quickly shoveled a few more bites of food into his mouth and then exaggeratedly yawned, looking at his older brother with a tired expression. “I suddenly feel so sleepy. I think I’ll go to bed now.”

He pretended not to see the desperate looks Lu Youze was giving him and didn’t give him a chance to make an excuse to leave. He stood up before Lu Youze could speak, saying, “Lu Youze, you must be hungry. I heard your stomach growl earlier. These dishes were all made with my brother’s care. Just enjoy them. After you eat, go sleep in one of the guest rooms. When you wake up, you and my brother can go to the set together.”

With that, Gu Xuanhao waved his hand and left without a care, leaving them behind with a dramatic exit.

Gu Xuanze, however, didn’t retract his gaze from Lu Youze, which seemed almost fixed on him. During the time Gu Xuanhao was gone, he thought a lot and finally realized that the slow-and-steady approach wasn’t working with the current Lu Youze. After his memory loss, Lu Youze had changed a lot, and they couldn’t use the same methods from before to deal with him. He recalled his time with Lu Youze after his memory loss and wondered if it was because of the memory loss or his current tough situation, but the post-amnesia Lu Youze had become much more subtle. Before, there were only two types of people in Lu Youze’s eyes: Yu Li and everyone else. Lu Youze would try his best to please Yu Li, bending over backward to do whatever he asked, even pulling the moon from the sky if he needed it; but to everyone else, he was like an aloof queen, not even offering a friendly glance. But now, Lu Youze seemed not to want to offend anyone and was trying to maintain a peaceful relationship with everyone without getting too close to anyone. Realizing this, Gu Xuanze immediately began to formulate a new plan—this time, he needed to be straightforward and force Lu Youze to confront his feelings.

Gu Xuanze almost despised his own underhandedness, not only using favors for revenge but also taking advantage of Lu Youze’s vulnerable situation.

But he had given up once before, and that pain was something he never wanted to experience again. Now that he saw hope again, he couldn’t let go.

“Mr. Gu.” Lu Youze couldn’t take the strange atmosphere and Gu Xuanze’s overly intense gaze any longer. He smiled at Gu Xuanze, subtly reminding him, “Is there something strange about me? It feels like you’ve been staring at me for a long time.”

He had made it obvious enough that anyone with a bit of common sense should know staring at someone for that long was rude. He believed that Gu Xuanze, unlike his idiot brother, should still have that basic understanding.

“No, there’s nothing strange about you.” Gu Xuanze smiled faintly and quickly looked away, his expression turning serious as he said, “I’m sorry, I was being rude. I just couldn’t help it.”

People who don’t smile often leave a strong impact when they do, and though Gu Xuanze’s smile was fleeting, for that moment, Lu Youze was taken aback. Just as Lu Youze was coming to his senses, Gu Xuanze’s words hit him like fireworks, making his head explode. What had he just heard? He had just heard something that could never have come out of the mouth of the great CEO Gu.

“Damn, he wouldn’t have accidentally walked into a novel from the ‘CEO Falls in Love with Me’ series again, would he? Or is today actually April Fools’ Day, and all of this is just a prank by the two brothers? But no, it doesn’t make sense. Gu Xuanhao might do something like this, but Gu Xuanze isn’t that childish. Lu Youze couldn’t help but observe the restaurant again. He didn’t see any cameras or anyone who looked like TV crew members. This isn’t some prank show from a TV station. So, after thinking it through, there’s only one possibility left: Gu Xuanze ran into some bad luck.

He knew this was illogical, but since he could transmigrate into a book, why couldn’t Lu Youze run into some bad luck too?

‘President Gu,’ Lu Youze said, trying to appear calm as he looked at Gu Xuanze. ‘Did you accidentally encounter something unclean today? Would you like to rest for a while?’

The filming of The Days of Walking the Jianghu was about to start, and if Gu Xuanze had an accident now, it would be a huge misfortune for him.

Gu Xuanze paused for half a second before realizing what Lu Youze meant. He was clearly trying to flirt, but Lu Youze thought he was cursed. It was obviously a sad story, but for some reason, maybe it was because of Gu Xuanze’s ‘lover’s filter,’ he actually found Lu Youze’s reaction incredibly cute.

He was the CEO of the Gu Group! Though this was the first time he had ever directly flirted with someone, no one else would have probably thought he was cursed in this situation.

‘Youze, I specifically learned all of this for you,’ Gu Xuanze replied, stopping at the right moment. He kept adding more food into Lu Youze’s bowl, and before long, the small bowl was piled high. ‘Try it and see if you like the taste.’

Lu Youze was indeed starving. Thinking on an empty stomach made his brain all tangled up. Just when he was about to fill his stomach and continue thinking, Gu Xuanze’s words made him drop the chopsticks he had just picked up.

‘President Gu,’ Lu Youze said with a half-smile, ‘You don’t mean what I think you mean, do you?’

‘It’s indeed something I specially learned from Chef Fang for you,’ Gu Xuanze said, staring at Lu Youze with a serious expression, his gaze so frank that it made it hard not to believe him. ‘Youze, I’ve already made myself clear, aren’t you being a little too slow on the uptake?’

At this point, Gu Xuanze deliberately paused, leaned closer to Lu Youze, and whispered in his ear, ‘Since Youze is such a slow person, I’ll have to be more direct. Mr. Lu Youze, I like you. Can I pursue you?'”