Strawberry Pop Pop Pop chapter 82
The sky had darkened, and Han Yang and Gu Nuan took a taxi back to their apartment building.
As they got out of the car, they happened to run into Su Li, who looked rushed.
Because there was some distance between them, and the sky was dark, Su Li hurriedly entered the apartment building’s elevator without noticing Gu Nuan and Han Yang, who were carrying several boxes of cakes and milk tea, resembling delivery workers.
“Is Su Li coming over this late to visit Liang Xie?” Gu Nuan was worried and wanted to follow.
Han Yang stopped him, saying, “Send him a message first.”
Just in case it was a private matter, they didn’t want to intrude.
But the anxious Su Li didn’t even look at his phone messages. He quickly took the elevator to the 20th floor.
When the elevator doors opened, he was right in front of Liang Xie’s apartment door.
Su Li unlocked the fingerprint lock, didn’t even have time to change his shoes, and rushed inside, opening the door to Liang Xie’s study.
On one side of the study, Liang Xie had fallen to the ground, and his wheelchair had tipped over to the side due to his body’s weight. There were also several trophies and certificates scattered around, as well as a photography book.
Su Li rushed to help him, “Liang Xie, are you okay?”
Liang Xie waved his hand, indicating that he was used to these falls. Even if Su Li hadn’t come, he could slowly get out of this situation on his own, it just required more time.
With Su Li’s help, he finally managed to sit on a nearby chair, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat, breathing slightly labored.
Su Li crouched down and massaged his elbows and legs, asking with concern, “Does it hurt where you fell? Is this painful?”
Liang Xie’s throat was hoarse as he replied, “It doesn’t hurt.”
“After falling like this!” Su Li unintentionally raised his voice but then lowered it. “How can it not hurt?”
Seeing Su Li’s urgent concern, Liang Xie felt a bit embarrassed. He shifted the topic, “Why did you really come over? I already said I’m fine. Once Zhang Jie comes back, she’ll help me.”
“Zhang Jie had to take leave due to a family emergency, and she won’t be back for a day. She didn’t explain properly to you,” Su Li said.
Fifteen minutes ago, Su Li was working at a convenience store when he received a phone call from Liang Xie. He didn’t know what Liang Xie was doing, but he heard a muffled sound and the sound of things falling on the other end of the line.
“Liang Xie! What happened? Are you okay?!”
“…I’m… I’m fine. Don’t worry. Hang up,” Liang Xie’s voice sounded off, like he was in a daze. To prevent Su Li from worrying, he hung up immediately.
When Su Li called back, Liang Xie didn’t answer.
Worried, Su Li quickly called Zhang Jie and found out that she wasn’t at the apartment and wouldn’t be back until the next morning.
Now, Su Li was teary-eyed and carefully rolled up Liang Xie’s pants. When he saw Liang Xie’s bruised knee, he felt heartbroken and gently said, “You lied to me when you said you could get up by yourself… Luckily, my workplace is nearby, and I came running in just ten minutes. Were you planning to spend the night on the floor if I hadn’t?”
Su Li’s words were not refined, but they conveyed his genuine concern. “Does it really not hurt? Your knee is all red? It would have been better if I got hurt instead! I have tough skin and can handle it.”
“How could I let you get hurt?” Liang Xie looked at Su Li’s concerned expression, and his eyes were gentle. “Su Li, I’m really okay. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“You’re my boyfriend; it’s natural for me to worry about you.”
Su Li blushed and suddenly thought that Liang Xie must have had a tough time on his own today. Still, he hadn’t told him anything about it, so he asked, “With Zhang Jie not here, did you have dinner tonight?”
Liang Xie couldn’t help but smile. Since meeting Su Li, his temper had improved a lot, and he patiently replied, “There’s a part-time cook who comes over to make food. Don’t worry about it.” He touched Su Li’s face and looked at the mess on the floor, but he didn’t say anything.
Su Li, seizing the opportunity, was about to clean up when Liang Xie held his hand back. “No need, let Zhang Jie clean up tomorrow.”
Su Li was also afraid of cleaning things up incorrectly and nodded. The place where Liang Xie was holding his hand felt slightly warm.
Since the time he had kissed Liang Xie’s cheek last time, they hadn’t made any further progress. Although they saw each other often now, their most ambiguous actions towards each other probably amounted to holding hands.
Su Li could be a bit naughty in front of Gu Nuan, but when it came to Liang Xie, he was like a pure and innocent bunny, afraid to make any moves.
Afterward, Su Li adjusted the wheelchair and helped Liang Xie sit in it, and they went to the master bedroom together.
He skillfully took a first-aid kit from Liang Xie’s room cabinet and applied ointment to the places where Liang Xie had been hurt, all the while talking to Liang Xie, “You used to not go to the study much, right? Is there something you wanted to do there? I can help you.”
Liang Xie didn’t answer immediately. He looked at Su Li, who was crouched down on the floor, and lowered his gaze slightly.
Su Li innocently raised his head. “Liang Xie?”
After a long while, Liang Xie finally spoke, “You mentioned yesterday that you wanted to see my photography collection from before. After my leg incident, I lost almost all those books. Only one was left in the study.”
It was the one Liang Caicai had left behind.
Liang Xie had wanted to find it and give it to Su Li, but now, even that book was damaged, and giving it away would be embarrassing.
Su Li was stunned for a moment, then immediately rushed to the study. He returned in less than a minute, holding the photography collection like it was a treasure, and said happily, “Is it this one? You took these photos so well. Can’t you enter them in competitions? Liang Xie, you’re really amazing, good at everything!”
Su Li thought to himself that if Liang Xie’s leg hadn’t been injured, with his outstanding Alpha qualities, he wouldn’t have had a chance with him.
So he cherished Liang Xie immensely and revolved everything around him.
Su Li asked, “Liang Xie, can you give me this photography collection?”
Liang Xie looked at Su Li, and on his usually cold face, there seemed to be a hint of emotion. But he didn’t show it too obviously, perhaps due to a long-lost shyness or the stirring in his heart.
He moved his lips.
Su Li realized that he might have made a shameless request and quickly changed his tone, “Maybe bookstores have it too, right? I now know your pen name; I can buy it myself. I’ve saved up a lot of pocket money from my part-time job recently. I’ll bring you cakes the next time I come over.”
Seeing the genuine affection in Su Li’s eyes, Liang Xie’s heart softened. His voice was deep and pleasant, “I actually wanted to give it to you from the beginning. So you can have it.”
Su Li was overjoyed, even asking Liang Xie to sign it for him.
Liang Xie: “…”
Su Li said seriously, “This is priceless to me, so please sign it.”
Liang Xie always had no choice when it came to him.
It took Gu Nuan half an hour to receive Su Li’s reply after arriving home. At this time, Han Yang was taking a shower, and Gu Nuan had nothing to do, so he called Su Li and learned that Su Li would be staying overnight at Liang Xie’s house.
“Are you two…”
“Don’t make things up! His housekeeper took a leave, and I can’t leave him alone, so I’m staying over. I, I’ll sleep on the floor!”
“What, his house doesn’t even have a guest room?”
“…Sleeping in a guest room is boring.” Su Li suddenly whispered, as if he had hidden himself in a corner to speak quietly. “It took me a lot of effort to stay over, so, of course, I want to sleep in his room! You don’t understand; if I sleep on the floor, he’ll probably feel sorry for me. This is called… enticing the tiger away from the mountain!”
Gu Nuan was completely bewildered by Su Li’s explanation. He had no interest in Su Li’s tactics. He said indifferently, “Oh, okay. I was actually thinking of asking you to help me check if there are Alphas out there ten times bigger than us.”
“…Are you doing this on purpose?”
Gu Nuan laughed and said, “Su Li, come and get some cake. I bought a lot. There’s the one you really like from that cake shop. However, my brother picked a lot of strawberry flavors. Do you mind?”
On the way back, Gu Nuan passed by two cake shops and couldn’t resist buying from both. Mainly because he wasn’t short on money, and Han Yang not only didn’t object but even actively chose the flavors.
One of the cake shops was quite expensive. Su Li could only eat cakes from there when he visited Gu Nuan’s house. So, naturally, the cakes he brought for Liang Xie were from the more common price range.
Upon hearing that there were cakes from this particular shop, Su Li hurriedly appeared in Gu Nuan’s apartment.
When Han Yang finished his shower and came out, he couldn’t find any trace of Gu Nuan in the bedroom.
Fortunately, Han Yang had the foresight to change into his usual sleepwear. When he went downstairs, as expected, Gu Nuan and Su Li were energetically dividing a table full of sliced cakes.
Gu Nuan kept saying, “Give me the cheesecake, and you can have the strawberry one. Mint for me, strawberry for you. Chocolate for me, strawberry for you…”
Su Li exclaimed in shock and annoyance, “Come on, can’t you give me a few that aren’t strawberry?”
Gu Nuan had no choice but to reluctantly give Su Fei a few cakes of other flavors. He wondered, “Didn’t you used to love strawberry flavor? Why the change?”
“That’s because your family always buys strawberry-flavored cakes and hardly any other flavors.” Su Li could smell the strawberry pheromones on Gu Nuan, and it was so sweet that it made him feel sick. “Gu Nuan, you need to take some suppressants occasionally; you’re way too sweet.”
“Do I? My brother says I smell really good.”
“Han Yang’s nose must be malfunctioning.”
“Liang Xie’s nose is the one that’s malfunctioning! Just smell the grape scent on you; it’s so sour!”
“Are you resorting to personal attacks now? I think Han Yang’s nose is the most…”
Before Su Li could finish his sentence, Han Yang, who was standing on the stairs, coughed lightly, and Su Li turned to stone.
Su Li quickly packed up his things and made his escape, carrying a box of strawberry-flavored cakes as he walked to the entrance. “Thanks, I’ll treat you to dinner next time!”
He made a run for it.
Before leaving, in order to have a better encounter with Han Yang next time, Su Li reluctantly said, “Han Yang, your nose is perfectly fine!”
“Bang!” The door closed.
For a moment, there was silence in the apartment.
Gu Nuan slowly turned around and saw Han Yang calmly walking down the stairs, coming closer to him. Gu Nuan was puzzled but was cornered by Han Yang against the wall.
Han Yang pressed one hand against the wall, and the other caressed Gu Nuan’s cheek.
With this posture, it would be a disservice to the wall behind him if they didn’t kiss. Gu Nuan obediently closed his eyes and pursed his lips, waiting for Han Yang’s kiss. But after waiting for a long time, he opened his eyes in confusion.
He saw Han Yang raising an eyebrow, looking displeased, and said,
“…”
“My strawberry cake, did you leave me any?”
There were cakes of various flavors on the table, except there were no strawberry ones.
Gu Nuan had a sudden realization, “Oh no, I forgot to save you a strawberry cake.”
In his heart, Gu Nuan was panicking.