CH 16

Translated by Coke

Edited by Sienz

Sleeping from three to four o’clock, although one hour was only a wink of sleep, at least he prevented the drying of the eyes that came with sleep deprivation. 

An Wuyang sat up on the sofa. Staring blankly around for several minutes, letting himself sober up from the haziness of sleep. 

“…” He was very unfamiliar with this office and lacked the impression of coming in at all.

Huo Yunchuan stood by and waited, neither urging nor speaking, neither too distant nor near. 

But the moment An Wuyang stood up, he subconsciously inched closer at an arm’s length away, thinking that no matter what occurred at any moment, he could save the person in time. 

“Where are you going?” An Wuyang walked out into the hallway and glanced at Huo Yunchuan, who was a step behind him. 

He felt uneasy with all the strangers gawking at them as if they were in a zoo. An Wuyang neither wanted to bow his head nor did he want to meet someone’s stare as he walked along, so he resorted to the most viable way out. 

“Dinner.” Huo Yunchuan peered into his eyes. Then he stepped forward beside him and put an arm around the other’s shoulders as if he could notice his discomfort. 

Several curious employees whose necks were stretched out scampered for a place to hide once they received a look of warning from their boss. 

The elevator appeared more spacious than it was during the rush hour, An Wuyang loosened up his breath once its doors closed.

He was still in a blurry state as he just woke up, so he could not help but yawn as the lift whirred down. Tiny beads of physiological tears squeezed out of the corners of his sleep-stained red eyes. 

During summer, sleeping in an air-conditioned room was more pleasant. Although an AC was installed in their room, the pair of brothers would still choose to turn on the fan when it was not particularly hot to save electricity at home. Thus, for them, a constant whirring of an AC was a luxury. 

Huo Yunchuan, who stood beside the lad, sneakily stared at him while contacting the restaurant to order their meals in advance.

This invoked a certain scene that happened a month ago, which was still vivid in his mind—the scene of being rejected. 

As someone who was proud as Huo Yunchuan, there was no “stalking” word in his dictionary. Thus, those actions were just unadulterated means of taking care of An Wuyang, and Yunchuan refused to think other than that.

Unless the other party showed affection first, which, realistically speaking, could not be possible. 

As a youngster who possessed no mature hair, thoughts were so naïve that they made people’s hair stand up in anger, and understood nothing at all. Just impossible. 

Huo Yunchuan was not crazy. Even if he really was mad, he was unlikely to have a relationship with an 18-year-old boy who was over a decade younger than himself. 

“Ming Jue.” After making his order, Huo Yunchuan called Ji Mingjue. “I need to ask you something. Do you have the contact details of the housekeeping that prepared your sister’s meals last time?”

Ji Mingjue stopped what he was doing. “I don’t have it. But, you can ask my sister instead. What’s up?”

“Then ask for me,” Huo Yunchuan said, walking on the road at the same time. He stretched out a hand to hold the young man, who walked a little faster and warned him with his eyes. “I need an aunt who cooks. The sooner, the better.”

Ji Mingjue responded, “Sure, I’ll ask for you now.”

His older sister paid very intricate attention to everything. When she studied in Japan, her personality also shifted into a stereotypical stubborn perfectionist. 

Thus, a housekeeper that could earn Ji Mingjue’s sister praise must be above the standard.

If it was not for the housekeeper’s refusal to follow them when his employer, Ji Mingjue’s sister, and her family went abroad to settle down there, Huo Yunchuan could not find such a person for the job.

“Why are you suddenly looking for a housekeeper?” A while later, Ji Mingjue wired back at him and asked. 

Inside the exquisite and snugly decorated private room, An Wuyang held a cup of warm water in his hands, as he eavesdropped on the other party who was occupied talking to his friend.

“It’s an emergency. I’ll explain it to you later.” The man’s voice was deep and resounding. Whenever he talked to his friends, it would always go down to a gentler tone, very unlike the cold and indifferent voice when he talked with An Wuyang.

Even so, An Wuyang did not mind at all, as he and this man were mere strangers. 

The food this time was also scrumptious. Once the waiter served the food, the young man’s stomach grumbled as he looked eagerly at the table-full of dishes. 

“Eat.” Huo Yunchuan glanced at him and picked up his chopsticks. 

An Wuyang, who sat not so far away from the other, expressed his thanks first before preoccupying himself with food. He consoled himself to not be too stressed as once the baby was born, everything should be fine when he returned to living his normal life. 

Cheering himself up, the crease between the lad’s brow loosened, and his chopstick’s motions sped up.

The crystal-like rice grains were both fragrant and soft, nothing could compare to the pleasant feeling it induced when savored in the mouth. Thanks to the blessing of the baby, An Wuyang had fulfilled his addiction for a rich life without a hitch.

After eating, he thought he would go straight home, yet Mister Huo had other plans. The latter took him to a shop he had never been to and bought a pile of food. 

It cost a lot of money. An Wuyang wanted to utter that he had no need for them, but when he thought about it more, Huo Yunchuan did that just for the sake of the baby in his womb.

“…” He closed his mouth and stopped himself from asking for unnecessary hypocrisy.

At the gate of the community, Huo Yunchuan pulled over and asked from his seat. “Is there anyone in your house right now?”

An Wuyang took out his mobile phone to check the time. “Yes, my dad and mom are at home.”

Huo Yunchuan furrowed. “Which floor do you live on?”

An Wuyang said, “T2, 2203.”

Huo Yunchuan unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He opened the trunk to carry the bags, and the moment he popped it shut, he found the boy standing beside him with a hand stretched out. 

He looked at the hand and said nothing for a while. “I’ll take you to the 22nd floor.”

An Wuyang blinked at him and turned to look at the uncle of the guard in the security room of the community. 

‘If my parents knew about it, they would certainly raise questions.’

He responded instead with, “These aren’t that heavy. I’ll do it myself.”

The hand was held out again, and Huo Yunchuan unacknowledged it. His expression turned grim and his voice dropped to a heavy tone. “Lead the way.”

As an ordinary teenager with mundane social interaction, An Wuyang had never encountered a man who manifested a strong deterrence like Huo Yunchuan. When the man fixed him with an intense look, Wuyang’s heart twitched.

Thus, he shut up and led the way.

When Huo Yunchuan saw the person in front of him panicking, his heart thumped. He squeezed his eyes and released a deliberate exhale—annoyed and speechless. 

Once he stepped into the elevator, he said, “I’m just worried.”

“It doesn’t matter.” An Wuyang hugged his own arm and looked at the rising number of floors. His heart only bore a simple thought: go home quickly. 

Huo Yunchuan bluntly said, “I harbor no malice towards you.”

This time, An Wuyang refused to give an answer. As soon as the elevator dinged, he stared at the elevator door. 

Huo Yunchuan had no choice but to give him the things in his hand. “Go back. Be careful, pay attention to your body. Don’t catch a cold and call me anytime if something happens.”

“Thank you.” An Wuyang’s heart was keen on getting home, never sparing a glance back as he walked away. 

Huo Yunchuan watched the departing back until the doors closed. A few seconds later, without speaking, he kicked the innocent elevator wall, pissed.

On the other end, An Wuyang, who fished out his keys to open the door, felt troubled too.

He gazed at the things at his feet—the exquisite and high-end packaging bags. If his parents asked where it came from, how would he answer?

He rested his head on the door and stayed as was for a while, thinking. Then, An Wuyang decided to say that it came from winning a lottery.

As he opened the door, he found the TV in the living room still running, but no one was watching.

He suspected his mom to be cooking in the kitchen, and his dad doing his business in the bathroom.

An Wuyang trod up to his room and hid the stuff in the closet.

Just after he closed the closet, An Wuji entered their room to put his schoolbag down and noticed his brother was there. He queried, “What are you up to today? Running around when you’re not feeling well?”

Their cram school started this afternoon, and they also ate lunch at home, but his older brother did not come back. 

“Did nothing. I just went out for a stroll,” An Wuyang said, darting a glance at the cabinet, and leaning over. “I’ll give you something delicious to eat later.”

An Wuji gazed at him and said with a serious face, “Give dad and mom a share too. It’s not good for us to eat by ourselves.”

“…” An Wuyang pursed up his lips, yet said nothing.

It did not matter if he shared what Huo Yunchuan bought for him with his younger brother. However, it would get awkward if he gave some to their parents. 

“Are you mad at them?” An Wuji sat on the small desk with his chin propped on his hands. “Older sister went to America to play, and had a very happy summer vacation.”

Their parents gave all the extra money to their elder sister’s vacation. An Wuji’s elder brother was frugal with money, and he also could work to earn more by himself. Thus, it could be one of the reasons why their parents seldom gave his brother Wuyang any pocket money. 

“It’s nothing,” An Wuyang said and jumped off the high footstool to go out to eat.

“Dinner’s ready!” Dad shouted from the living room, calling everyone to eat.

When An Wuyang exited the room, he found that his mother was on a video call with his sister. He shot a curious glance at the phone. His sister’s bright and beautiful face occupied the entire screen, and her hearty voice boomed from it. 

“Mom! This is Los Angeles, the cradle of sports stars!” An Wuyu raised her phone to show her mother the city’s streets of Los Angeles.

Ding Wei snorted. “That street’s not as beautiful as our Beijing.”

But foreign countries were indeed foreign. The old couple looked at the fresh sights with much gusto.

Next, there was a scene where his sister communicated with foreigners in fluent American English. Which An Wuyang, a peasant, could not speak. He really admired his sister. She could mingle with everyone, thus she was likable.

Dad An Cheng accidentally saw that the second child had a poor appetite. After shoving a mouthful of food in his mouth, he kicked Ding Wei under the table. “Stop talking, the food’s about to get cold. If you want to catch up, then do it later in the evening.”

Ding Wei hung up the phone, caressed her youngest child’s hair beaming with all smiles. “Do you want to go to a foreign school like your sister?”

An Wuji bit his chopsticks. “If I get admitted to a better school than Tsinguha, I’ll go.”

His mother and father chuckled at the same thought: ‘This child’s really ambitious.’

“Wuyang, are you feeling alright today?” After they laughed, the An couple looked perfunctory at the second child who was having a meal with them. The boy was not fond of talking, thus they knew nothing of what was going on inside his head. It was very worrying.

An Wuyang shook his head. “Fine. I ate something before I came back, so I am a little full.”

An Cheng said, “Then don’t eat it. Eat when you’re hungry at night.”

An Wuji cut in, “Brother bought snacks and hid them in the house.”

An Wuyang glared at him, then he heard his mother berating him. “How old are you that you still eat snacks all day? Didn’t I tell you the food sold outside is unsanitary? It has no nutrition and is a mere waste of money. If you have that spare money, you should use it for something meaningful and learn something. That brings no harm for you but only good.”

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