The moment he heard that voice, Liu Buli suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of peace.
At least it proved that the man's appearance wasn't a figment of his delusion. And since the man wasn't a delusion, he was still in his room. This proved that the other party had no intention of abandoning him, and they could continue to be together.
Reaching this conclusion quickly in his mind, Liu Buli felt the tension that had been building all day begin to ease.
A faint smile involuntarily appeared on his face, and Liu Buli softly replied, "Yes, I'm back. I smelled something nice, have you finished cooking?"
"Yes, I went out to buy the ingredients myself today, all things Master likes to eat. Go wash your hands, the meal will be ready soon," Lu Wuming replied quickly, with a hint of pride in his voice.
Thinking of how he had looked so timid and nervous the first time they went grocery shopping together, Liu Buli suddenly found it inexplicably amusing.
He had left the money for groceries with Lu Wuming, and to be honest, he had left quite a lot. Besides the groceries, Lu Wuming could have used the rest to buy things he liked. But glancing around the room, Liu Buli could be sure that the fool had only bought ingredients, and hadn't spent any of the money given to him carelessly.
He obediently went to wash his hands. When he came out of the bathroom, Lu Wuming had already served the food and brought it to the table.
The small cake he had bought was also unwrapped and placed on the table. Lu Wuming handed him a pair of chopsticks, then sat down opposite him.
Sitting facing each other like this, under the dim orange light overhead, Liu Buli couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and sweetness, whether it was the atmosphere or an illusion.
Brother Zhang and the others always said he had too high expectations, that the romantic life he fantasized about couldn't exist in reality.
But at this moment, he suddenly wanted to record all of this and show it to his colleagues, to slap them in the face with reality. He wanted to tell them that the romantic life he fantasized about could indeed exist.
Amused by his own thoughts, Liu Buli let out a relaxed laugh.
Seeing his smiling face, Lu Wuming looked a bit puzzled. He lowered his head to look at the food on the table, then looked back at Liu Buli's face. Lu Wuming hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Master, is the meal today that good? That it makes you laugh so happily?"
Of course, the smile wasn't entirely due to the food, though it was partly a factor.
But seeing Lu Wuming's foolish expression, Liu Buli knew that if he tried to explain seriously, the fool probably wouldn't understand.
So, giving up on explaining, Liu Buli simply nodded and said, "I just feel good coming home to someone. Usually, it's just me, so I didn't really want to come home before sleeping. I used to think this house was so empty, but now that you're here with me, I'm even thinking that maybe we should move to a bigger place."
In a moment of carelessness, Liu Buli had spoken his mind directly.
Realizing that he was essentially inviting Lu Wuming to live with him long-term, Liu Buli's cheeks flushed red once again.
Unfortunately, Lu Wuming wasn't as self-aware as he was. Instead, he seriously considered his words and then shook his head, saying, "I think this house is quite good. It's a bit crowded for two people, but it's enough. I like living a little crowded with Master, so that we occasionally touch each other during daily life. I really like this feeling, so this is fine."
Lu Wuming said this very calmly, as if he hadn't realized how embarrassing his words would make someone feel.
It was precisely this naturalness of his that caused Liu Buli the greatest embarrassment. And because he knew that the other party truly meant nothing else, Liu Buli could only blush and lower his head to eat, hoping that time would help diffuse the awkwardness of the topic.
After dinner, Lu Wuming turned to wash the dishes.
Liu Buli stood at the kitchen door, watching his movements. His heart stirred, and he subconsciously asked, "Lu Wuming, do you like this kind of life?"
Hearing his question, Lu Wuming's movements paused slightly. He turned to look into Liu Buli's eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "If you're just asking if I like staying by Master's side, then of course I do. I told you from the beginning, I don't have many other things I like. My only liking is to be by your side, that's all."
After saying this, Lu Wuming averted his gaze and continued washing the dishes.
Liu Buli, however, couldn't help but frown. That wasn't the question he had intended to ask.
He wanted to ask if living in this era with him was better than the world he kept talking about returning to. At least here, there wasn't all the fighting and killing. As long as one lived diligently, there wouldn't be any major threats to personal safety.
At least from a public safety perspective, wasn't it much better than the world he spoke of?
He had indeed intended to ask that.
But the words stopped at his lips because he suddenly realized a crucial point—
This man had no intention of understanding this world.
As he had said, his appearance here was simply to accompany Liu Buli.
Perhaps for this man, any world was the same. If there had to be a distinction, it was that a world with Liu Buli was good, and a world without Liu Buli had no value or meaning.
Since that was the case…
Liu Buli took two deep breaths, as if making a decision, and said to Lu Wuming, "I just wanted to ask you, if you think living here is also good, why don't you give up on the idea of returning to your world? Let's live here together. If you don't want to interact with others, then you don't have to. My salary is more than enough to support both of us, so… would you be willing to stay for me?"