EAMRF Chapter 23

Yu Antong’s face was radiant after being “moisturized”, and the next day he made breakfast in a good mood before deciding to go to school.

It just so happened that he also received a message from the class leader.

<Class Leader>: Antong, when are you coming back to school? We plan to organize a class dinner and we are waiting for you.

The drama produced by their class won third place in the campus cultural festival, and they kept saying that they would have a dinner to celebrate. But the mid-term exam was right after that, and the students were too busy preparing for the exam. In the end, it was delayed until now, when the exam had finished. 

<Yu Antong>: I’m going to class today.

Xing Lixuan drove him to the school gate. Before getting off the car, a trace of timidity rose in Yu Antong’s heart.

Hey, it seems that his skin thickness still needed to be honed further.

“Husband, give me a loving kiss for extra strength!” 

Yu Antong pouted at Xing Lixuan in a joking manner, habitually flirting. He was ready for Xing Lixuan to throw him out of the car. Unexpectedly, Xing Lixuan really leaned over and kissed him.

“Smooch.” There was a soft sound, clear yet ambiguous in the closed environment of the vehicle.

Yu Antong didn’t expect it, so his expression looked a little blank.

Xing Lixuan chuckled, and then sullenly warned, “Don’t do anything else at school except study, and don’t be a flirty monster…”

Instead of replying to him, Yu Antong hugged his neck and kissed him hard, interrupting his lecture. After the kiss, he opened the car door and jumped out of the car cheerfully. “Got it! Goodbye, goodbye~”

Xing Lixuan had an inexplicable feeling that he would be thrown away after being used up.

Yu Antong didn’t wear a mask or a hat, he walked into the school with a backpack on his back.

There were many people looking at him along the way, and Yu Antong could still hear some people whispering to their friends. 

“Look, look, that’s Yu Antong, he is coming to class.

“Ah, keep your voice down, you will be heard,” The girl patted the arm of the roommate with a whisper-shout, “Whenever I look at him, I remember his fragrant chili sauce, and I immediately drooled in response… Haha, let’s go to Immortal’s Banquet this weekend to try.” 

Yu Antong didn’t pretend that he didn’t hear anything. Instead, he turned around and looked at the two girls gossiping. He smiled friendly at them as he said, “Thank you for your liking. If you go to the Immortal’s Banquet to eat, you can get a 20% discount with your A University’s student ID card.” 

The two girls didn’t expect Yu Antong would talk to them, stunning them in place for a moment. Seconds later, one of the girls said with embarrassment mixed with surprise, “Thank you senior for the discount, we will definitely try it.”

When Yu Antong reached his class, he saw that his roommates had graciously saved a seat from him. He sat there and greeted them. 

Sun Ming and Zhao Peng whispered to him, “Antong, you finally came to class. We miss you so much.”

Yu Antong laughed and teased at them, “Do you miss me, or do you miss my cooking?”

“What are you saying? Of course we miss you…” Zhao Peng said, then made a sharp turn, “…and your cooking also, of course!” 

Sun Ming straight-up confessed, “I have been living on the steamed buns in the school cafeteria and your chili sauce these days. My appetite has hit rock bottom for other foods. Help me.” 

Han Lele also joined them in complaining. He might be a 2nd generation nouveau riche, and he’s not short of money, but the Immortal’s Banquet was so popular that he couldn’t get a table every time he went there. 

Han Lele said, “Tongtong, hurry up and open more branches.”

Yu Antong glared at him. “You sinner is not qualified to make demands.”

“I’m also a victim, okay?” Han Lele cried out, “I have avenged you already by sacrificing my family, so please forgive me.” 

He explained that the day when he got home, he told his father everything. When his father learned that his elder son had caused his younger son to enter the police station, and even implicated the marriage partner of the young master of the Xing family, he was so angry that he invited the family law out.

Han Xingyan was severely beaten. If it wasn’t for the company affairs that he had to deal with, Father Han would beat him until he couldn’t get up for three days. After that, Father Han escorted him to the Xing family’s house to apologize. Yu Antong knew about this.

In fact, it was all an accident, Yu Antong didn’t let Xing Lixuan make things difficult for the Han family. He sent them back after saying a few words.

Han Xingyan even said, “If you’re still angry, I’ll beat my brother up again when I get home.”

Han Lele knew about this, and he still had resentment towards his brother. It seemed that as long as Yu Antong spoke, he could beat his brother up again.

Since he was a child, his older brother bullied him and lord over him. Now the table has turned, although the price was heavy.

It was too arrogant for these students to gossip in class. The old professor on the front was pissed, and he threw down a chalk piece to Han Lele. “Han Lele, answer this question!”

Han Lele stood up with a bitter face, and it took him a long time before answering it. 

The old professor snorted. “If you don’t know, then listen to the class carefully!”

After class, the class leader told everyone not to leave because the class’ dinner should be discussed now. 

The class leader asked, “Where should we go to eat? Please give me a suggestion. If you have a favorite restaurant, tell me for reference.”

“No need to ask,” someone suggested, “We must go to Immortal’s Banquet!”

Others soon followed suit, “Yes, yes, Immortal’s Banquet!” 

The class leader looked at Yu Antong and smiled, “The unanimous vote has spoken. Boss Yu must reserve two tables for us.”

With the current popularity of the Immortal’s Banquet, they couldn’t get a seat at all, so they had to let the boss come forward to open a backdoor for them. 

Yu Antong said, “Alright, alright, I’ll make it happen. Tonight, all of you can eat as much as you like. It’s my treat.” 

The students in the class immediately cheered happily. “Thank you, Boss Yu! Boss Yu is generous!”

With a destination in mind, Yu Antong called Xing Lixuan to inform him. As for Xing Lixuan, he thought that nothing bad would happen in Yu Antong’s own restaurant, so he only said, “Just don’t drink too much, I don’t want to take care of a drunkard.” 

In the evening, Yu Antong’s classmates sat at two big tables. The class leader took the lead in opening the dinner, so he stood up and said, “It’s all thanks to Antong that everyone can have dinner at the Immortal’s Banquet’s today. Antong, let me toast to you first.” 

Yu Antong smiled and clinked glasses with him. “We’re all classmates here, no need to be polite.” 

Then, the class leader sat down and said, “Although it’s Antong’s treat today, everyone can’t eat for free. You have to publicize the Immortal’s Banquet to your relatives and friends when you go back.

A classmate wailed, “Ah, ah… the gap between us truly is wide. I’m still struggling to learn how to help people manage money, while Antong has already become a successful boss of his own franchise.” 

Another classmate then held onto Yu Antong like grasping a treasure. He reverently said, “I’m a financial management student at A University, with excellent professional knowledge. I sincerely request to work in Mr. Yu’s company after graduation. The salary can be negotiated, especially if I can get employee’s benefits of eating here everyday. It’s best to have four dishes and one soup in total.”

They’re all still young, so it’s easy for them to joke around like this. Soon, almost everyone nursed an alcoholic beverage in their hand, and they drank a lot. Yu Antong remembered Xing Lixuan’s warning at the beginning, and dared not drink too much. However, there’s a lot of people toasting to him and he didn’t have the heart to decline their sincerity. In the end, he did end up drinking quite a bit. 

Inevitably, everyone got drunk. Fortunately, it was in his own restaurant and Yu Antong had greeted the waiters in advance to help him. After a while, he helped the students take taxis back to school.

Yu Antong sent the class leader away lightly and turned back to the store. He wanted to call Xing Lixuan, but he always felt that the phone screen was shaky, making him unable to press the correct number.

Yu Antong held the phone, illogically feeling dissatisfied. He ordered his phone, “Stop being shaky!” 

During this, he staggered and almost fell down.

Fortunately, someone caught him. It was a thin and tall boy. As he helped Yu Antong get steady on his feet, he said, “Antong, long time no see. It’s me, He Bin.” 

Yu Antong’s mind processed things very slowly. He couldn’t remember who this person was. “He Bin? Who is it?”

The man’s voice became impatient, “Don’t you like me?”

Didn’t Yu Antong like him so much? How could he not recognize who he was? Was it because he felt embarrassed when He Bin directly rejected him last time, so he deliberately pretended to be drunk and pretended not to recognize him? 

He Bin thought like this, and said, “Yu Antong, don’t pretend to be drunk. I know you still like me, don’t you want to be with me? Then let’s try.” 

While this proves that it’s He Bin who wanted to be with Yu Antong, he spoke as if it was Yu Antong who begged to be with him. 

Yu Antong rubbed his head and slowly said, “Oh, I remembered.”

The corners of He Bin’s mouth curled up into a victorious grin. He knew that Yu Antong was really pretending to be drunk, so when he said he wanted to be with him, he said he remembered.

Meanwhile, Yu Antong struggled to recall the plot of the novel. In the original novel, Yu Antong was bullied by his uncle’s family. On the first day of college, he dragged his heavy luggage to report to A University alone. When he was sweating profusely, He Bin, who was passing by, looked at him pitifully and gave him a hand. He helped him to move his luggage to the dormitory.

The little kindness was buried in Yu Antong’s heart. He began to secretly pay attention to this classmate, and that gradually turned into a crush. When Uncle Yu forced him to marry into the Xing family, he plucked up the courage to confess to He Bin.

But, the original Yu Antong met with He Bin’s disgusted eyes instead. 

This He Bin was actually a cannon fodder supporting character. His role was to deepen the relationship between the protagonist gong and shou by making conflict. 

But in the original novel, the character He Bin didn’t appear again after the protagonist shou was rejected by him. Thanks to this, the current Yu Antong wouldn’t remember about this insignificant character if He Bin didn’t say that “Yu Antong” used to like him.. 

He Bin actually doesn’t like men; and homophobic on top of that. That’s why he refused in disgust when Yu Antong confessed to him.

But, the thing is–

He could help Yu Antong when he was at his worst. He enjoyed Yu Antong’s looking up to him in gratefulness.

But he couldn’t accept that this bumpkin he once despised transformed into the founder of the Immortal’s Banquet brand in just a few short months. In his eyes, Yu Antong was just someone he had rejected. How could someone he despised live better than him? 

Yu Antong was a person who used to wear shabby clothes washed to the point of bleached whiteness. Suddenly, he inherited tens of millions of wealth, started a famous brand, and could afford to invite the whole class to an expensive feast without blinking. 

‘If Yu Antong still likes me, I can use him. Everything he has will become mine easily.’ 

Driven by these thoughts, He Bin deliberately waited for everyone to leave, and then stayed to confess his love to Yu Antong.

Of course, his confession was more like “charity”.

He wasn’t gay.

It’s a great sacrifice on his part to be with Yu Antong. 

---

Xing Lixuan didn’t dare to underestimate Yu Antong’s ability to act like an enchanting vixen, so he wanted to pick him up personally. He estimated the time the dinner would be finished before coming to the Immortal’s Banquet. 

As soon as he entered the door, he saw a young man pulling Yu Antong to say those words. Before Xing Lixuan could fully register what he meant, Yu Antong replied while annoyedly pointing at the young man. He shrieked, “Dog blood¹melodramatic plot advancement, basically. go away! Shoo!!” 

Xing Lixuan shook his head, then became amused. He almost believed the young man’s claim of “Yu Antong used to like him”. But after thinking about it, Yu Antong was a shameless and coquettish person, and an arrogant one on top of that. There’s no way he would beg someone to be with him. 

Xing Lixuan personally knew that.

He strode forward, pushed the shocked young man, and carried the disobedient drunk man into his arms.

He Bin staggered and stood firm, “Who are you? Let him go!”

Seeing Xing Lixuan, Yu Antong smiled. It’s clear that he was still tipsy. “Husband, you are here.”

He Bin’s expression changed when he heard Yu Antong’s address. He asked in disbelief, “Yu Antong, what do you call him?!”

Xing Lixuan coldly replied in his wife’s stead, “Go to the hospital to see a doctor if your ears don’t work.”

“You!” Seeing Xing Lixuan’s cold gaze choked He Bin. He couldn’t properly say anything. The older man’s aura was too suffocating, making him uncomfortable. 

The man was tall, with a handsome and tough face. His hair was combed back in a neat way, matching his neat, bespoke suit. On his exposed wrist was a genuine-looking Patek Philippe watch that he had only seen in luxury magazines. Noble and powerful.

He Bin didn’t dare to say anything to Xing Lixuan, so he could only turn to Yu Antong to challenge him in frustration, “Yu Antong, have you changed your mind so quickly? Are you interested in his money? You really let me down.”

Although Yu Antong was drunk, he could still think. He also realized that he was drunk. He hated that this made him not able to speak smoothly. He nursed a headache and pushed Xing Lixuan forward, “Honey, help me scold him. He is so annoying.”

Yu Antong’s subconscious dependence on him in his drunken state made Xing Lixuan feel better.

Xing Lixuan glared at He Bin with cold and sharp eyes. His tone was calm, yet it was cutting like the sharpest sword. “Only someone as incompetent as you would think that Yu Antong marries me to get my money. Are you reflecting your own thoughts? Thief calls for thief²a crook will be the first one to call others a crook, because he thinks that other people are like him., after all.” 

Yu Antong knew that Xing Lixuan’s mouth was poisonous, but he didn’t expect it to be to this extent. 

He just directly called He Bin a gold-digger, which completely negated the existence value of He Bin as a whole.

Xing Lixuan continued, “Yu Antong is my lover. From now on you’d better stay away from him. If I know that you continue to harass him…” He paused for dramatic effect, “Well, you don’t want to know the consequences, do you?” 

He Bin’s nose fluttered and his body trembled involuntarily, but he couldn’t speak a word.

Xing Lixuan had enough. He gave an ultimatum, “Get out now!” 

He Bin left in embarrassment. Yu Antong stared at Xing Lixuan, like a little fanboy, “Husband, you are so handsome~”

Xing Lixuan carried him into the car in a bridal carry. He was still pissed at Yu Antong. “I’ll clean you up when we get home!”

Yu Antong muttered and shook his head, “Don’t clean me up, don’t clean me up.”

Xing Lixuan snorted. “Didn’t I tell you not to get drunk? And what do you do now?” 

“I’m not drunk,” Yu Antong squeezed his index finger and thumb, gesturing to the amount of alcohol he consumed, “Okay. I’m just sliiightly drunk.” 

Xing Lixuan was really confused by him, but he knew that his wife was due to a severe lesson. 

What happened today gave Xing Lixuan a sense of crisis. Of course, this sense of crisis was not brought to him by He Bin. He didn’t take that insignificant man seriously at all. 

He just suddenly realized that Yu Antong was very alluring. It was only logical that many people must have liked him. It seemed that Xing Lixuan had to pay close attention to people in Yu Antong’s vicinity in the future. 

Yu Antong is his wife. His legally wedded spouse. He would make sure nobody would stand between that. 

Xing Lixuan might’ve said earlier that he would not serve drunkards, but when they got home he was fully prepared to help Yu Antong. First things first, he immediately made Yu Antong bathe, and even dressed him up into his pajamas. Then, he took a quick shower and changed into his pajamas seriously, leaving Yu Antong sleeping on the bed. 

When he came out of the bathroom, he saw Yu Antong lying on his stomach just like when he was drunk last time. His face was buried in the pillow, his ass sticking out half-kneeling without a care in the world. 

Xing Lixuan slapped him gently on the buttocks. “What a bad thing to do when you’re drunk.” 

Yu Antong was shocked after being slapped. He pulled the quilt to wrap himself up while whining, ”Bad husband, this is domestic violence! If you don’t apologize, I’m suing for a divorce.” 

If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I’ll release an additional chapter ^^

• 1
  melodramatic plot advancement, basically.
• 2
  a crook will be the first one to call others a crook, because he thinks that other people are like him.