Blue Cocktail chapter 63
His steps suddenly came to a halt, and Cheng Shuo slowly turned around.
He saw Lu Huaiqian raise an eyebrow and smile slightly, making a gesture as if to invite him.
Cheng Shuo glanced suspiciously at Lu Huaiqian, hesitated for a moment, then tore open the black packaging of the parcel—
“…”
Four pairs of underwear.
Cheng Shuo: He should have expected this.
Perhaps Lu Huaiqian deliberately placed it right under his nose. The old fox had a talent for playing with people’s minds, and he was one of the living victims.
Cheng Shuo picked up one of them, half-smiling and half-serious. “I thought wealthy people like you would be particular about intimate clothing, like customizing their underwear.”
Lu Huaiqian shook his head and denied, “I’m very simple; I’m a low-key person.”
“Low-key,” Cheng Shuo sneered as if he heard a huge joke. “I thought it was something else, making it so mysterious.”
“Seeing your expression, you seem disappointed?” Lu Huaiqian raised an eyebrow. “So what did you think was inside?”
Cheng Shuo remained silent, pretending not to have heard, so as not to say too much.
However, Lu Huaiqian persisted in an annoyingly curious manner, “Did you think it was a maid’s outfit?”
“…” Cheng Shuo was annoyed and threw a pair of underwear across the room.
The underwear flew directly toward his face, but Lu Huaiqian, nonchalant, took a step back, extended his hand, and the fabric landed steadily in his palm. This prevented him from being hit in the face by underwear, and his smile became even more triumphant and brilliant, as if he was asking for trouble. “Actually, I bought the maid’s outfit a long time ago.”
Unable to hold back, Cheng Shuo asked, “When? Why haven’t I seen it?”
Lu Huaiqian replied, “Just two days ago when I brought it home. You happened to be in class at school.”
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
“Forgot,” the old fox innocently shrugged. “Besides, you didn’t ask.”
Gritting his teeth, Cheng Shuo said, “Don’t think I don’t know you did it on purpose!”
After saying that, he added, “I thought, once you brought the clothes back, you would have me try them on.”
Lu Huaiqian explained, “The maid’s outfit I chose has plenty of room at the waist and chest. Since I know your exact measurements, it’s practically impossible for it not to fit. Of course, the main reason is that there are still four days left for a seven-day no-reason return policy.”
“After I finish showering, I’ll show it to you.”
He smirked mysteriously.
Cheng Shuo muttered, “Pretending to be mysterious.”
He decided not to waste any more thoughts on the maid’s outfit. Coincidentally, last night, he noticed that a designer platform was holding a design competition for a newly launched canned cocktail drink, themed “slightly drunk.” The first, second, and third prizes were 50,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan, and 10,000 yuan, respectively.
Although packaging design competitions often have strong subjectivity in the evaluation results, Cheng Shuo was willing to give it a try since the cost of participation was not high.
More importantly, his boyfriend was into cocktails and should be very familiar with them. If he encountered any difficulties during the design process, Lu Huaiqian might provide him with new inspiration.
Returning to the bedroom, Cheng Shuo immersed himself in the design, thinking deeply. He didn’t even notice the movement behind him until his shoulder was gently tapped.
Lu Huaiqian raised the box in his hand. “Aren’t you going to check your clothes?”
He casually sat on the bed.
“Sure.” Cheng Shuo put down the stylus in his hand and walked over to Lu Huaiqian.
Opening the box, there was indeed more than just the maid’s outfit. Wait, why did he use “indeed”?
Cheng Shuo, with a complex expression, picked up the cat ear headpiece, stretched his arm, released his fingertips, and the headpiece silently fell onto the bedding. Then he picked up two white socks, repeating the previous actions.
Finally, he picked up a black leather circular object. Cheng Shuo’s calm demeanor finally showed a crack. “This—”
He hesitated.
Lu Huaiqian added from the side, with a confident tone, “It’s a necklace.”
“…” Cheng Shuo frowned. “Do you think I don’t know what a choker is?”
Lu Huaiqian feigned surprise. “I didn’t expect you to know the word ‘choker.'”
Cheng Shuo glared back.
No wonder he measured his neck size before—turns out he was already setting him up back then!
Lu Huaiqian blew into Cheng Shuo’s ear, “Want to give it a try?”
“No.” Cheng Shuo said without hesitation. “Looking at the size, I’m sure I can put it on, not to mention there’s plenty of room at the shoulders and waist.”
Lu Huaiqian insisted, “Give it a try; what if it doesn’t fit?”
Cheng Shuo lowered his eyes, neatly folded the outfit in his hand, along with the headpiece, white socks, and choker, and put them back into the box. “If it doesn’t fit, I’ll pay you; don’t waste your money.”
Lu Huaiqian wanted to make another attempt but was preempted by Cheng Shuo—
“It’s not possible tonight; I have plans.” Cheng Shuo straightforwardly exposed his intentions. “I know that when I put on the outfit, you won’t be able to control your instincts. I have no expectations for your self-control.”
“What a cold and ruthless remark.” Lu Huaiqian sighed. “So, what plans do you have tonight?”
“Design competition, as I mentioned to you last night.” Cheng Shuo started ushering him out, reaching towards the bedroom door. “Mr. Lu, this way, please.”
Having lived with Cheng Shuo for a while, Lu Huaiqian had grown accustomed to the ritualistic solitude that accompanied Cheng Shuo’s art sessions. Every time Cheng Shuo painted, it resembled a seclusion for cultivation; he didn’t allow any human presence around, closing and locking the door.
Sometimes, in a moment of distraction, Lu Huaiqian would feel that Photoshop, the digital tablet, and the stylus were the biggest obstacles on his emotional path.
“Drawing again,” Lu Huaiqian sighed, half-jokingly and half-lamenting, “What’s more important, making money or me?”
“Of course, making money,” Cheng Shuo replied without hesitation.
As the words fell, perhaps feeling that it sounded a bit off, he added, “You’re important too. Once I get the prize money, I’ll treat you to a trip and a feast.”
“Okay,” Lu Huaiqian laughed, not pressing the matter further.
“If you need something, try not to knock on the door; send me a message on WeChat first.”
“Understood.”
Lu Huaiqian silently left the bedroom.
Although he was wealthy, he didn’t have the right to hinder Cheng Shuo’s career development under the pretext of love. Moreover, he hoped Cheng Shuo could shine in the field where he excelled.
He knew very well that he liked eagles and hawks, not canaries. The difference between the two was that eagles and hawks could survive on their own, but canaries couldn’t.
Since the reserved Mr. Lu couldn’t be affectionate, he put away his feelings and opened his computer, browsing financial news.
Suddenly, he received an email.
Sender: Lu Huaixuan.
Memory recall.
Lu Huaiqian suddenly remembered that he had previously asked Huaixuan to act as an intermediary, hiring a computer expert to retrieve data for him, claiming that the cocktail menu needed a redesign. In reality, with Cheng Shuo and Zhu Meng’s efficiency, the illustrations were already submitted.
Opening the email.
Among the criteria—male gender, college student, IP address in Peijiang, fans over tens of thousands—there were a total of eighteen illustrators.
Tonight, there’s something to do.
Lu Huaiqian was eager to try; he decided to go through the Weibo accounts on the list one by one.
He had plenty of free time, after all.