Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 10

Allergic Reaction

After work, Wu Mou invited everyone to a nearby restaurant for a simple meal.

It was the first time Gu Jiahe had seen Wu Mou treat. In the past, Wu Mou was not someone who would easily pick up the tab.

For his main course, Wu Mou ordered the Tomato Seafood Baked Rice, which had a thick layer of clams and shrimp on top.

Gu Jiahe glanced at it and smiled awkwardly, “I don’t need mine, who wants an extra portion?”

Wu Mou shrugged, “Xiao Gu, you don’t understand. Their baked rice is their specialty, it’s really delicious.”

Gu Jiahe felt a bit embarrassed and hesitated with his hand hovering over the plate.

“He’s allergic to seafood,” Li Zhao quietly chimed in from the side.

“Huh?” Wu Mou was surprised.

“Yeah,” Gu Jiahe nodded, “I can’t eat seafood, it makes my skin break out in hives.”

Wen Qi leaned in from the side with a curious expression, “Mr. Gu, didn’t you say last time that you and lawyer Li weren’t familiar with each other?”

“Right, not very familiar.”

“Just had a meal together.” Li Zhao didn’t lift his eyes, explaining briefly.

“Yep, had a meal together during school.” Gu Jiahe lowered his head.

Fortunately, the topic quickly shifted to Wu Mou. He received a call, and his wife arrived at the restaurant to join them.

Before anyone could ask, Wu Mou started talking about how he and his wife had met and their past.

“At that time, she was a campus beauty queen, and I pursued her for quite a while.”

Everyone at the table laughed and bombarded them with questions about their courtship.

Wu Mou’s wife was also generous, chatting with everyone with a smile.

Only Gu Jiahe was left out at the table, his gaze wandering.

But he was soon caught off guard.

“Hey, Xiao Gu, do you have a girlfriend now? Do you want me to introduce you to someone?” Wu Mou’s wife teased from the other end of the table.

“Huh? Me?” Gu Jiahe was called suddenly and felt a bit lost, his mind not catching up.

“Yeah, do you want a girlfriend?”

With this question, even the interns joined in the teasing, “Yeah, Mr. Gu, you’re so handsome, you haven’t had a girlfriend yet?”

“I…” Gu Jiahe couldn’t think of how to respond for a moment, he couldn’t just come out publicly, could he?

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Li Zhao answered for him again.

Gu Jiahe frowned slightly. What business was it of his? Besides, he had never talked about his relationship status with anyone, so why was he so sure?

Someone questioned back on his behalf, “How do you know, Lawyer Li? Mr. Gu has never discussed his relationship status with us.”

“I guessed,” Li Zhao replied, lowering his eyelids.

“Tch, I thought there was some juicy gossip.” He Xiao waved her hand dismissively.

“I’m not considering finding a partner right now, thank you for your concern,” Gu Jiahe declined hastily when Wu Mou’s wife continued to stare at him.

But as soon as he gave this answer, Wu Mou’s wife consciously looked away, but another pair of eyes turned to him.

Gu Jiahe turned his head and found Li Zhao looking at him.

After three seconds of frozen silence, the two of them tacitly looked away.

“Avengers: Infinity War 3” had been released for a while, but it happened to coincide with their busy season. Surprisingly, none of the office workers had found the time to go see it.

Gu Jiahe was no longer at the age to be infatuated with superhero movies.

Except for Robert Downey Jr.’s beautiful eyes, he couldn’t recall much about the other characters.

The group entered the screening room, and although the movie had been out for some time, it was still selling well. Six people couldn’t even get a whole row to themselves.

Wen Qi and He Xiao sat in the front row, wanting to experience the most intense visual impact. Naturally, Wu Mou sat next to his wife, leaving only two empty seats in the back row.

Gu Jiahe sat in the one closer to the aisle, and Li Zhao took the seat next to him.

This feeling was a bit awkward. They hadn’t seen each other in years, and now they had to sit together in a dark theater and watch a 149-minute movie together.

The movie followed the typical plot of superheroes battling villains.

Since Gu Jiahe hadn’t watched the Doctor Strange series of movies, he found it a bit difficult to understand.

After watching the opening, he subconsciously asked, “Where did the Hulk come from?”

“Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum in New York.”

“Doctor Strange?”

“The disciple of the Ancient One.”

Gu Jiahe was about to ask who the Ancient One was when he realized the atmosphere was a bit strange. He gently patted his lips with the back of his hand.

Loose lips sink ships.

Fortunately, the screenwriters seemed to take care of viewers like him who hadn’t caught up. The plot in the latter part of the movie could be understood even without prior knowledge.

The movie tickets booked by Li Zhao included a bucket of popcorn and two cold drinks.

The popcorn was placed in the armrest bucket between the two seats.

Gu Jiahe hadn’t eaten much for dinner, but now he felt hungry, and the aroma of buttered popcorn was too tempting. In the dim light, he reached out and took a kernel, popping it into his mouth.

Li Zhao didn’t react much, his eyes fixed on the big screen.

Gu Jiahe took a second, third, fourth kernel…

Until he reached what must have been the tenth or so, suddenly another hand reached into the popcorn bucket and touched the back of his hand.

Gu Jiahe’s hand trembled in shock, and he quickly looked up, but Li Zhao’s eyes were still fixed on the screen. However, his hand quickly retracted.

“You can have it,” Gu Jiahe whispered softly, placing one into Li Zhao’s hand.

Li Zhao took it and put it in his mouth without a word.

In the dimly lit theater, Gu Jiahe could only see Li Zhao’s closed lips and jawline.

He lowered his head, and Li Zhao’s left forearm was less than 10 centimeters away from his hand.

The veins on the forearm were slightly protruding, and the beautiful muscle lines extended into the rolled-up shirt sleeve.

“How many did you see?”

Star-Lord asked Doctor Strange, who had returned from the future, how many possible outcomes he had seen.

“Fourteen million six hundred and five.”

Fourteen million, six hundred and five times.

A gasp swept through the theater for a moment.

The plot roughly revolved around Doctor Strange traveling to the future and seeing fourteen million possible outcomes. The probability of winning this battle was almost zero.

Gu Jiahe tilted his head, but he didn’t feel much stirred. It was Li Zhao’s sudden turn of his face that caught his attention, whispering in a voice only he could hear, “Do you want to take a look at the future?”

Gu Jiahe glanced back at him and shook his head with a smile, “No.”

Gu Jiahe knew his future, it was laid out there so clearly and honestly. There would be no surprises or changes.

Li Zhao’s breath was close, and there was still a lingering warmth on his hand from their brief touch.

The battle began, the movie scenes flashing, and Gu Jiahe wasn’t used to the 3D glasses. He took them off, rubbed his eyes, and then fell into contemplation.

If he were given the power to time travel and placed back ten years ago, to experience fourteen million times. The probability of him and Li Zhao lasting long would also approach zero.

But, but he, it seemed that he would always fall in love with the Li Zhao of that time for the fourteen millionth time.

As this thought occurred to him, Gu Jiahe shook his head vigorously, the movement catching Li Zhao’s attention beside him.

“What’s wrong?” Li Zhao thought he had something to say.

“Nothing.”

The 149-minute movie was a bit too long. As the movie ended, Thanos snapped his fingers, and half of humanity on Earth turned into dust.

Gu Jiahe subconsciously turned his head to look, Li Zhao hadn’t disappeared, he was still sitting next to him.

Gu Jiahe’s waist was a bit sore from sitting, and when the theater lights came on, he stood up.

Li Zhao, however, remained seated for a few seconds before finally standing up.

“There’s still a post-credit scene,” Li Zhao said next to Gu Jiahe.

“I’m a bit tired, I’ll head back first.” Gu Jiahe wasn’t particularly interested in the post-credit scene and turned to leave.

Li Zhao stood in the corridor for a few seconds, then turned and left the theater.

After bidding farewell to everyone outside the cinema, the group dispersed.

The sky outside the theater had already turned completely dark, and it had started to rain again at some point.

The weather in Beishi was usually dry, but this year there had been continuous heavy rain. It was somewhat unusual.

Gu Jiahe stood under the eaves outside the cinema, watching Li Zhao texting on his phone behind him, and suddenly he couldn’t help but laugh at his own thoughts just now.

He knew he wasn’t the protagonist in anyone’s life.

His appearance, for Li Zhao, was just a bug in his long youth.

Fortunately, it was fixed in time that year, and Li Zhao’s life was able to proceed normally.

Gu Jiahe rubbed his face with his hand.

“It’s raining.” Li Zhao’s voice came from behind, but he didn’t say the second half of the sentence.

Gu Jiahe seemed to understand what he wanted to say.

“No, I want to walk alone.” Gu Jiahe opened the umbrella and walked into the dark rain again.

Walking in the rain, he couldn’t shake the feeling of déjà vu.

If it weren’t for that heavy rain, perhaps he and Li Zhao wouldn’t have had a story. They wouldn’t be in such an awkward situation now.