Chapter 65 – Watching Tang Tang take a bath

After speaking, without even sparing a glance at the pale-faced Xu Minghong, Lu Bei took Tang Qing with him, leaving on their own.

He escorted Tang Qing to the school gate to have grilled fish¹grilled fish in this case is actually wet. I love this type of fish dish tbh. The fish is first cut in half, fried and then covered in this savoury soup. 10/10 you can taste the crispy fish and the tasty savoury soup in one bite. Along the way, Lu Bei continued to provide Tang Qing with some ideological education, saying, “Tang Tang, as a good-looking young man like you, you must learn to protect yourself. Don’t take it lightly just because the other person is male. Nowadays, there are many gay men who love targeting cute guys like you.”

Tang Qing felt like rolling his eyes. A handsome guy like him was being treated like a child, so young and naive.

But this couldn’t be blamed on Lu Bei.

Lu Bei’s deep-rooted homophobia was actually because of Tang Qing.

When Tang Qing was just seven or eight years old, a small, round-faced, adorable child with a cute, white face like a little glutinous rice ball, he was playing with Lu Bei in the yard one day and accidentally wandered off. He was then abducted by a middle-aged man passing by. The man was a pedophile who couldn’t resist grabbing the cute boy he saw on the road. Luckily, Lu Bei noticed in time and immediately called the security guards from their residence to stop the middle-aged man.

At that time, Lu Bei didn’t understand and thought it was a child abduction case. It was only when he grew up that he realized it was a case of a pedophile. Initially, the matter had been handed over to the police for resolution.

Once Lu Bei matured, he went to great lengths, found the man, and crippled him in the middle of the night.

Another incident occurred during junior high school. Lu Bei was playing basketball while Tang Qing was nearby reading and waiting for him. A senior from the high school department approached Tang Qing, tugging at him and expressing admiration for him, finally mustering the courage to confess.

Although Lu Bei was playing basketball, his eyes never left Tang Qing.

Seeing this, Lu Bei immediately threw the basketball hard at the senior’s head and got into a fight with him.

That fight caused a commotion among their parents and the entire school, showing everyone how wild Lu Bei could be for Tang Qing.

Fueled by anger and brute strength, Lu Bei, who was three years younger, beat up the senior, leaving him with bruises, a swollen face, and two missing teeth. Due to his fight, Lu Bei was called in by his parents. However, he refused to apologize in front of the principal and both sets of parents, choosing to accept the punishment rather than back down.

In any case, anyone who dared to touch Tang Qing, Lu Bei would retaliate without hesitation, like a mad dog, never holding back.

Since then, Lu Bei had developed a deep-rooted homophobia. Whenever he heard about homosexuality, he believed that someone was coveting his precious Tang Qing and must be sick. No amount of reasoning would work.

Xu Minghong was lucky; he had only confessed to Lu Bei. If a boy dared to confess to Tang Qing, Lu Bei would have gone crazy and resorted to violence, and beating them up would be considered mild.

These incidents, though not causing real harm to Tang Qing, left a profound psychological shadow on Lu Bei.

This was also why Tang Qing allowed Lu Bei to excessively protect him.

Arriving at the grilled fish restaurant, in addition to Zhang Chiheng, there were also Tang Qing and Lu Bei’s two roommates.

“This piece has no bones, Tang Tang, eat it.”

As usual, Lu Bei first picked out the tenderest part of the fish for Tang Qing, then started peeling the shrimp for him.

Watching Lu Bei and Tang Qing’s dining habits, the others couldn’t help but tease, “Bei-ge, when you find a girlfriend in the future, will you treat her this well? Serving tea, feeding meals, and vegetables every day, it’s like raising a son.”

Lu Bei naturally replied, “Of course not. Wouldn’t she have hands?”

The others fell silent. Was Tang Qing incapable of doing things for himself?

Lu Bei then focused on Tang Qing’s bowl of rice, reminding him, “I didn’t give you much rice today, so you can eat more dishes.”

Tang Qing could only nod helplessly.

When Tang Qing was young, he had a weak stomach and couldn’t eat much, so he had to eat small meals frequently. His parents used to watch him eat every day, and after that, Lu Bei took over the role. When Tang Qing started school, his parents couldn’t monitor his meals, so Lu Bei took over.

Lu Bei confidently stated, “Tang Tang will be a surgeon in the future. He will need to use a surgical knife. How can he do these things?”

What’s wrong with peeling shrimp? Don’t surgeons eat shrimp?

One of the roommates asked, “Lu Bei, will your future girlfriend tolerate you serving another guy throughout a meal?”

Lu Bei impatiently replied, “If she can’t handle it, then so be it. Why would I need a girlfriend? I have Tang Tang.”

Zhang Chiheng teased, “What if Tang Tang wants to find a girlfriend?” He wasn’t entirely joking; he had long felt that Lu Bei’s possessiveness towards Tang Qing was too pathological, completely restricting Tang Qing’s normal social interactions.

Lu Bei’s gaze sharpened slightly, and he said seriously, “I won’t find a girlfriend, and Tang Tang won’t find a girlfriend either. We will never be apart.”

Speechless, Zhang Chiheng remarked, “You’re a dictator. Have you asked for Tang Qing’s opinion?”

Lu Bei looked at Tang Qing and proudly said, “Tang Qing, what did you promise me this morning?”

Tang Qing had to face everyone, feeling a sense of shame internally, and replied earnestly, “As long as Lu Bei doesn’t have a girlfriend, I won’t have a girlfriend either.”

Lu Bei looked at the compliant Tang Qing and proudly boasted to everyone, “You heard it. I’ve said it before, Tang Qing and I will be together forever.”

Lu Bei peeled another shrimp for Tang Qing. Tang Qing had already eaten half a pot and shook his head, refusing, “It’s too much, I can’t eat anymore.”

Lu Bei insisted, “No, this one is peeled just for you. It’s so clean, you have to take at least one bite.”

Tang Qing, feeling helpless, reluctantly approached and took a small bite from the shrimp peeled by Lu Bei.

Tang Qing always ate in small bites, just like a little cat. The shrimp was a bit spicy, and his lips turned slightly red, adding a touch of charm to his originally elegant and handsome face.

Lu Bei, looking at Tang Qing’s lovely face, happily said, “As long as I can see my Tang Tang every day, I could eat three bowls of rice.”

He threw the half-eaten shrimp directly into his mouth.

This was Lu Bei’s daily routine during meals — he had to eat some of Tang Qing’s food to be satisfied.

“What a weirdo,” Zhang Chiheng couldn’t help but silently comment.

He looked at Tang Qing as if he were watching a wayward teenager. He admired Tang Qing for maintaining a friendship with Lu Bei for so many years. Although it seemed like Lu Bei was taking care of Tang Qing meticulously, Tang Qing was actually very independent and didn’t need to be looked after. Instead, Tang Qing had been tolerating Lu Bei’s possessiveness.

After they finished eating, everyone smelled of spicy shrimp. Tang Qing, who was a bit of a clean freak, couldn’t stand it and wanted to go back to the dorm to shower. Unfortunately, the roommates said there was no water in the dorm recently, so they had to use the public bathhouse.

Upon hearing this, Lu Bei said, “I’ll accompany you.”

One roommate couldn’t help but joke, “Bei-ge, are you a little girl? Do you need to hold hands to go to the bathroom?”

Inspired by the comment, Lu Bei reached out his hand to Tang Qing.

Tang Qing couldn’t help but say, “This is something only little girls do. Why are you learning this?”

Lu Bei earnestly replied, “As you said, little girls know to do this. How can we lose to them?”

Tang Qing was speechless at his damn competitive spirit. Since opposing was futile, Tang Qing just looked at Lu Bei and stubbornly held his pajama pants in his arms, interlocked his fingers with his own, and walked to the bathhouse with him.

Walking hand in hand, the school’s heartthrob and beauty heading to the public bathhouse together, attracted a lot of attention. Even some girls started gossiping:

“I knew it, they must even shower together. Ahhh, they’re so sweet, showing affection every day.”

“Maybe they’ll even help each other scrub their backs… Haha, I’d love to see them shower.”

Holding Tang Qing’s young and tender hand, Lu Bei felt extremely proud. His expression was hard to describe.

Tang Qing thought that Lu Bei’s smug look was like a wealthy man’s foolish son marrying a beautiful wife.

But he shook off these thoughts. He wasn’t a beautiful wife, so why think like that?

This was their first time in the bathhouse; they usually showered in the dorm or at home. The public bathhouse didn’t have doors, just U-shaped walls separating the area, reaching chest height.

Lu Bei looked around critically, “Why isn’t there even a door? Tang Tang, how about we go back home to shower?”

Tang Qing had a class shortly, so he shook his head, “Let’s finish showering here first. It’s fine, everyone does it this way.”

It was still early, so there weren’t many people showering. Lu Bei walked to the back and pointed to the last stall, “You can shower here, Tang Tang, and I’ll be behind you, watching over. I’ll shower later.”

Tang Qing felt a bit awkward. He thought it was unnecessary; after all, who would ask someone to watch them shower from behind in a public bathhouse?

Seeing Tang Qing’s discomfort, Lu Bei said straightforwardly, “What’s there to be shy about? Didn’t I help you shower last night?”

Tang Qing rolled his eyes silently.

Can a person and a cat be similar in this?

However, they had seen each other’s bodies countless times since childhood. Lu Bei was always straightforward and didn’t mind such things. He knew Lu Bei’s intentions; he just didn’t want others to see his body.

So, Tang Qing stopped feeling awkward, turned his back to Lu Bei, and began undressing.

Lu Bei stood at the partition door, through the misty air, catching a glimpse of a fair and tight back, delicate butterfly bones forming smooth lines with Tang Qing’s movements.

As Tang Qing finished undressing, his hand moved downwards, past a slender and soft waist, to his pants. Bending forward, he slightly arched his back, removing his outer pants, revealing long and straight legs and the round hills enclosed by white underwear.

Tang Qing’s skin was flawless and fair, almost glowing under the lights. The area wrapped in white underwear was plump and full, captivating to behold.

Looking at the innocent and cute black and white cat face on the underwear, Lu Bei once again marveled at how all of Tang Qing’s intimate clothing should indeed be taken care of by himself.

With his slender and fair hand resting on the edge of his underwear, Tang Qing was about to remove the last piece of clothing.

Suddenly, Lu Bei felt inexplicably nervous, his throat dry, and unconsciously swallowed.

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  grilled fish in this case is actually wet. I love this type of fish dish tbh. The fish is first cut in half, fried and then covered in this savoury soup. 10/10 you can taste the crispy fish and the tasty savoury soup in one bite