Pheromone Deficiency Syndrome chapter 22

I Love You

Gu Jinyi thought Xie Huaizhou had some event that required his attendance, hence his serious demeanor.

But it wasn’t until the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, when Xie Huaizhou brought him to the water train, that he realized Xie Huaizhou was taking him out for a “date.”

Using the word “date” because he really couldn’t find a more accurate description.

This water train went directly to a famous scenic area on Roselle Star—the White River City.

This was a very special area. While most of Roselle Star was covered in water, the White River City was a piece of land hidden deep in the mountains. Snow fell in the mountains year-round, and the thick snow never melted, blanketing the roofs and peaks in white, turning it into a dreamlike fairyland.

Within the White River City, there was a hidden attraction.

That was its “Golden Waterfall.”

The waterfall in the mountains appeared only once every ten years. Due to the special substances in the water, this waterfall was golden, flowing continuously down the mountains.

But at other times, it was just a dry cliff.

Now was the flood season for this waterfall.

Because the right to use this waterfall scenic area belonged to the Liu family, Xie Huaizhou had borrowed it for a day, including this water train, which didn’t accept any other visitors, only the two of them were present.

The train was very quiet, and Gu Jinyi sat by the window, looking at the scenery slowly passing by outside.

This train had a retro design but was essentially a high-tech product. However, in order to allow guests to see the surrounding scenery clearly, the journey speed was intentionally slowed down, meandering around all the romantic and beautiful spots on Roselle Star, moving forward leisurely at a pace incompatible with this era.

This train was also voted as one of the “Top Five Places Most Suitable for Couples’ Dates” on Roselle Star.

Gu Jinyi had been feeling a bit restless since he got on the train.

They had just passed through a corridor composed of pink flower trees, with pink petals falling into the water from the branches, staining the water surface like ink, rendering the atmosphere ambiguous for no reason.

He couldn’t help but ask Xie Huaizhou, “Why did you want to take me to see the Golden Waterfall?”

The Golden Waterfall was indeed a famous attraction on Roselle Star.

Because of the gimmick of “once every ten years,” the Liu family had made a lot of effort in publicity, and every time the waterfall season came, there was a continuous stream of visitors.

But for someone like Xie Huaizhou, clearing out the area specifically and leaving behind a spot only for the two of them, explaining it as a “spur of the moment” decision wasn’t convincing.

Gu Jinyi asked himself honestly, if he really was Xie Huaizhou’s “lover,” then it would be natural for him to enjoy this kind of thoughtfulness. But he knew deep down that he wasn’t.

“Isn’t it your wish,” Xie Huaizhou looked at him, “You wrote it in your yearbook when you graduated from Lande College.”

Gu Jinyi looked puzzled for a moment.

After a while, he remembered that it was indeed the case.

Graduates of Lande College would usually write down their dreams or wishes in their yearbooks.

The yearbook messages, called “yearbooks,” were actually giant stones submerged in water. Different colleges had different locations, and everyone used special pigments to joyfully write about their memories of Lande College.

Of course, Gu Jinyi had also written. After his graduation remarks, he added, “Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the Golden Waterfall.”

During his four years at Lande College, the Golden Waterfall had always been in its dry season.

But even he couldn’t remember this clearly, so how did Xie Huaizhou know?

He asked Xie Huaizhou puzzledly, “But how did you see it?”

There were thousands of messages on the giant stones. Even with signatures and timestamps, who could find their own among them accurately?

Xie Huaizhou lowered his eyes.

Of course, he wouldn’t tell Gu Jinyi that he had spent a long time standing in front of that stone area, wasting a lot of meaningless time, just to find the one with the signature “Gu Jinyi”.

Among the thousands of messy messages, Gu Jinyi’s message only occupied a small area, with clear and elegant handwriting, and a small cat’s head drawn beside it.

The words were no different from other messages, but he had looked at them for a long time, his fingers brushing over the handwriting, imagining how Gu Jinyi wrote it.

“The last time I went to Lande College to pick you up, I happened to see it,” he said.

Gu Jinyi furrowed his brows.

Xie Huaizhou, accustomed to being in a high position and the negotiating table, had developed a habit of not revealing his emotions. So Gu Jinyi couldn’t tell if Xie Huaizhou was lying or not.

But for some reason, he had a clear voice in his heart telling him that it was a lie.

But he had no evidence.

Just then, a robot waiter politely knocked on the door three times and came in to deliver special tea and snacks for them.

The corridor of pink flower trees on the water had disappeared, and outside was just an endless expanse of water.

Although the waterfront train was moving sluggishly, it arrived at the Golden Waterfall before the scheduled time.

Because the area had been cleared out in advance, it was quiet here, with only the sound of the waterfall roaring down.

The train switched to land mode, continued on its way, and stopped in front of the waterfall. Then, the walls and ceiling of the train all turned transparent, allowing the passengers inside to see the surroundings clearly.

Xie Huaizhou explained to Gu Jinyi, “The substances in the waterfall are not suitable for inhalation by humans, so we can only view it from inside the train. This is the best viewing spot.”

Gu Jinyi knew about this.

He sat inside the train, looking at the magnificent scenery before him.

The huge golden waterfall fell vertically in the night, dazzling in the deep night sky, like the picture books he read as a child, where there was a kingdom of gold, and even the water flowing in the waterfall was golden.

And above this waterfall, between the cliffs on both sides, there was a stone bridge connecting them. On both sides of the stone bridge, silver flower trees covered the mountains, stretching endlessly. With the layers of cliffs, they created different sceneries.

This indeed looked like a scene from a dream.

Especially now, with no one around, under the wilderness, under the waterfall, there was only this waterborne train, and only one car was lit, with two people quietly enjoying the view inside.

This gave Gu Jinyi a feeling of being away from the world’s troubles, as if they had escaped from the planet, into the universe, drifting to a deserted island, relying on each other and never parting.

He couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Xie Huaizhou.

In the soft and hazy light inside the train, Xie Huaizhou’s sharp profile softened, his long eyelashes like feathers, and his eyes like polished obsidian.

He heard Xie Huaizhou say, “That stone bridge was built by the first governor of Roselle Star, who was the first person to discover the Golden Waterfall. Later, the Golden Waterfall derived many legends about the Golden Waterfall. Some say that kissing under it will keep two people together forever, others say that the first person to see the waterfall will have good luck for a year, and there’s even a saying that behind the waterfall might be another dimension. But all these legends are just people comforting themselves.” Xie Huaizhou said, after which he fell silent for a long time.

Leaves from the mountain fell, mixing with the waterfall and flowing into the pool of water.

He turned his head, looking at Gu Jinyi attentively, and asked, “Do you like this waterfall?”

Gu Jinyi glanced at the waterfall outside the window. Because they were so close, the splashes fell on the transparent train, resembling a winter rain, with white snow all around, and no one would intrude into this silent place.

Xie Huaizhou clearly asked him if he liked this waterfall.

But he always felt that Xie Huaizhou was asking him if he liked this gift… if he liked him?

He wasn’t a dull person.

This wasn’t just a whim of Xie Huaizhou’s, wanting to see the scenery of the waterfall and taking him along.

This was a long-planned date prepared just for him.

To fulfill his insignificant regret from his school days, a snow-covered world that belonged only to him was specially set up, just to let him watch the waterfall undisturbed.

“I like it,” Gu Jinyi answered softly.

He looked at the teacup in his hand. The tea was milky white, with a sprinkle of blue plant powder on top.

The blue powder was originally drawn as a standard heart, but now that the tea had cooled, the heart was already broken.

“Xie Huaizhou…” Gu Jinyi hesitated for a long time before he opened his mouth, “I want to ask you a question. If I guess wrong, just ignore it.”

He looked up at Xie Huaizhou, who was also looking at him with calm and emotionless eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a bit reluctant to say it, stammering, “Forget it, just pretend you didn’t hear anything.”

But Xie Huaizhou grabbed his hand.

“Why stop now,” Xie Huaizhou held his wrist tightly, not allowing him to evade, “I’m listening.”

Gu Jinyi’s heart was pounding.

Clearly, he wasn’t the one confessing to Xie Huaizhou, and he wasn’t the one waiting to be favored by fate, but he felt the air suddenly become hot, thick, and ambiguous in an instant, suffocating.

His voice became very soft, amidst the roar of the waterfall, like a drifting boat, fleeing around, unable to find a destination.

“Xie Huaizhou, do you, maybe, like me a little?”

He was never a presumptuous person.

He always felt that an alpha as outstanding and high-ranking as Xie Huaizhou would have no shortage of equally outstanding omegas expressing affection.

They were just bound together by coincidence due to “pheromone deficiency syndrome.”

But now he wasn’t sure.

Especially during Xie Huaizhou’s sensitive period.

Xie Huaizhou called him “Yiyi,” his voice gentle and sad.

At that time, he thought, maybe this alpha really cared about him, he could even go against his instincts for him.

After asking this question, Gu Jinyi didn’t know what kind of answer he wanted.

Actually, he shouldn’t have asked. After asking, the two would only become more awkward.

But he always felt that if he pretended not to know Xie Huaizhou’s feelings, he could comfortably enjoy his gifts and care.

But for Xie Huaizhou, it would be too cruel.

No one’s love should be taken for granted.

Time passed silently for half a minute.

The golden waterfall continued to flow, water droplets constantly splashing on the transparent glass, slowly sliding down into long streaks.

Xie Huaizhou shook his head at Gu Jinyi.

“You’re wrong. I don’t just like you.”

“I love you.”

He said this calmly.

Countless nights of tossing and turning, jealousy, unwillingness, and pain.

On this magnificent and peaceful night.

In a place where no one knew.

It turned into a casual “I love you”.