Chapter 26: Becoming Well-Behaved

Chapter 26: Behaving Himself

Chu Lanting's home was small, and so was the room.

In the room that could only fit a bed and a cabinet, a few stray wooden planks had now appeared.

Chu Lanting looked up at the wide-open window, and when he lowered his head again, he saw Pei Du tossing a blanket onto the planks that had already been pieced together.

"I'll sleep here from now on. My wife gets the bed, and I'll protect my wife."

The tall young man patted the uneven planks and looked up with a smile.

The moment Chu Lanting looked down, his gaze met Pei Du's.

Seeing the slight redness at the corners of Pei Du's eyes, Chu Lanting's throat tightened, and the words he wanted to say got stuck.

After a long pause, he mumbled, "Mm, come out and eat something."

He hadn't been able to go to the factory in the afternoon, and he'd also missed the work Feng Xingyun had arranged for Pei Du—it would probably be marked as an unexcused absence.

Chu Lanting chewed the tasteless bread, flipping through the lesson plans he'd already prepared.

Even though he had memorized this content inside and out, after all, he'd taught middle schoolers in his past life. Thinking about facing a bunch of clueless little kids, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

Just as he flipped to the second page, a large hand snatched the plan away.

"My wife said you should focus when you eat, or it's bad for your health."

The voice overhead made Chu Lanting look up.

Seeing Pei Du staring at him without blinking, Chu Lanting, who was supposed to be 'leading by example,' immediately felt ashamed.

"Sorry, I won't do it again."

"It's okay. My wife said that admitting your mistakes and fixing them makes you a good kid. I'm a good kid, and so is my wife."

Chu Lanting had only ever looked after kids in a work setting. Pei Du was the first person he'd ever had to raise.

So he treated him like one of his students, patiently teaching him all sorts of things.

He hadn't expected Pei Du to have such a good memory, even turning around and using what he'd taught him on him.

His ears felt a little hot. Chu Lanting instinctively reached up to touch his earlobe, remembering how another large palm had touched it not long ago.

He swallowed hard. Whether it was his imagination or not, his ears seemed even hotter.

-

Pei Du had become well-behaved.

Since that day, the relationship between them had truly become what Chu Lanting had hoped for.

Pei Du was sharp. He could learn anything after being taught just once.

He could even handle the office work with ease.

While Chu Lanting was happy about this, the feeling of being left behind grew every day.

Because Pei Du was so sharp, he'd gotten busy, getting involved in almost everything at the factory, big or small.

On top of that, he was good-looking, so people even came to Chu Lanting to ask about their relationship.

"Little Chu, you and A Du don't seem to be getting along. Did you two fight?"

Chu Lanting had just finished his work. Before he could even take a sip of water, he heard a puzzled voice beside him.

When he turned and saw it was one of the few girls in the workshop, he paused for a moment before speaking softly, "It's not really a fight."

He and Pei Du had never really fought.

Or rather, they always gave in to each other.

It was just that this time, they'd each backed off a bit too far—so far that he talked to his colleagues in the workshop more than he talked to Pei Du in a day.

This morning, Pei Du hadn't even waited for him to wake up. He'd made breakfast and then come to the factory alone to start working.

Because of his strong work ability, Pei Du's role kept shifting.

Since they'd gone to sleep last night, he hadn't seen Pei Du at all.

He tapped his index fingernail against his thumbnail. Anyone who knew him would recognize this as Chu Lanting's habit when he was at a loss.

Hearing that they hadn't fought, the girl let out a relieved breath: "Good, you didn't fight. Supervisor Feng said you two have a great relationship."

"But lately, after A Du came, your relationship seems to..."

"Don't misunderstand. I just came to ask. You and A Du are both very good-looking. I just, I just hope you two don't fight..."

Looking a bit embarrassed, the girl scratched her head: "I've never seen a more compatible couple than you two. Seeing you together gives me confidence in finding a partner in the future, heh heh."

On Planet 207, it was rare for a girl to be cherished by her family.

Especially in the slums, where everything was behind the times, a girl's birth meant she'd be traded for resources.

The girl standing in front of Chu Lanting was thin, and her features still showed how young she was.

She wasn't old enough to find a partner yet, and he didn't know if her family would treat her better and respect her choices.

Chu Lanting stopped tapping his fingers, a slight smile curling at the corner of his lips: "What's your name?"

The girl seemed surprised he'd ask. After a brief pause, she smiled and said, "I'm Xiaoyuan."

"Xiaoyuan, would you like to study with me?"

It wasn't until Xiaoyuan left that Chu Lanting leaned back in his seat and let out a long breath.

It wasn't lunch break yet, so Pei Du was probably still busy.

Should he go find him?

And if he did find him, what could the two of them talk about?

Work and study, study and work—his life was just those two things. Other than that, there wasn't anything interesting about it.

Even though those two things were boring too.

He was such a dull person—why did Pei Du even like him?

It must still be that imprinting thing, right? Now that Pei Du had gotten busy, wasn't he already neglecting him...

He looked up at the fluorescent light overhead. Maybe it was too harsh, but his eyes stung a little.

Just as he was about to blink and look away, a sudden yank made him yelp in surprise as his body slipped uncontrollably off the chair.

"What... A Du?"

Being dragged out of the workshop, Chu Lanting stumbled a few times before he could barely steady himself.

He called Pei Du's name several times, but other than drawing stares from his coworkers, Pei Du didn't so much as turn his head.

"A Du, where are you taking me?"

He was too fast.

Pei Du had long legs, and now his strides were long and quick—Chu Lanting had to jog to keep up with him.

Even when they were completely alone, Pei Du didn't stop until he reached the dead end of the alley.

By then, Chu Lanting had been jogging the whole way just to keep up.

Seeing him finally halt, Chu Lanting gasped for breath and looked up to ask what was going on.

Only to see that his beautiful fox-like eyes were clouded with a darkness he hadn't seen in a long time.