CH 43.1

Yang Han felt that Han Shi Yu must have angered Yang Mo.

When she was video calling Yang Mo, the same guy who would feel uncomfortable all over every second he wasn’t glued to Yang Mo, didn’t even show his face, only daring to hide behind the computer and listened to their voices.

Yang Han reported to him how things were going lately, that both her studies and life were going well and that she was having a good time with her grandfather.

Old Yang felt at ease after meeting his granddaughter and went home after that. He was afraid of delaying Han Shi Yu’s business any longer, so he insisted on going back by himself. He refused to take the plane, saying it was a waste of money. Han Shi Yu couldn’t win in an argument against him, so he bought him a train ticket and went to the station with Yang Han to see him off.

Yang Mo listened attentively through the screen, occasionally responding to her with a few ‘en’s.

After she finished talking about her own matters, Yang Han wanted to mention Han Shi Yu in the passing, by Yang Mo said instead, “It’s late already, go to bed.”

Yang Han: “Oh…”

She glanced up and swept her gaze across to Han Shi Yu. He was crossing his arms, sitting upright without making a single sound. The two of them stared at each other for a while before Yang Mo hung up the call.

Yang Han had confirmed it already. She said, “Dad must have left because you made him angry.”

Han Shi Yu: “Nonsense.”

Yang Han turned the computer screen towards him and pushed it in his direction, “Give him a call then.”

Han Shi Yu was silent for a long time before he finally said, “It’s too late already tonight. We’ll talk about it again sometime later…”

“…” Han Shi Yu frowned, “…You lil brat, what kind of look is that.”

Yang Han looked away and said worriedly, “I was thinking about how I’d survive this holiday.”

Yang Han was now a highschool student capable of taking care of herself. She no longer needed the meticulous care of adults, and even worried that Han Shi Yu would hold her back at home.

And Han Shi Yu truly lived up to her expectations. On the first night, she dragged Yang Han along, pulling an all-nighter as they played games together.

For a young boy, being able to stay up all night to play games was one of the happiest forms of entertainments, although it was at the cost of consuming your lifespan.

Han Shi Yu liked staying up all night with his roommates when he was in university, but now that he was older and married, he followed Yang Mo’s life routine and no longer pulled any all-nighters anymore.

At this moment, Yang Mo wasn’t home and will not be home for two months. This guy was like a wild dog who was off the leash, his nature being released fully and he had acquired freedom.

Yang Han, for some reason, ended up playing with him and lost herself too. The next morning, three alarms couldn’t wake her up.

The early morning sunlight was just right, if it was let in, it could spread across the whole room. But all of them were blocked out by the curtains, so only a little bit of light filtered in to carefully touch Yang Han’s fingertips. The warmth slightly swayed along with the curtains, like a butterfly that was so close to descending but still flapping its wings to stay afloat.

However, the shattering of this peaceful scene only required a series of loud knocks on the door and a yell from Han Shi Yu, “Yang Han – get up, it’s nine o’clock already!”

Yang Han let out a low growl of discontent in her throat, lifted the blanket to cover her head and let Han Shi Yu continued yelling from outside.

In the trance between sleeping and waking up, Yang Han was suddenly jolted awake by the hot breath in her ears.

Someone pulled back the corner of her blanket and blew wind into her ear, “Still sleeping?”

Hearing that, Yang Han quickly opened her eyes and blinked twice. After the covers were pulled down, she looked at the appearance of the person in front of her eyes in a daze. There’s a faint fragrance wafting in the air, ticking her nose.

Liu Zuo Ye flicker her forehead without any hesitation and said, “Princess, I’ve been waiting for you outside for half an hour.”

Yang Han only then remembered that she seemed to have asked Liu Zuo Ye to come over the weekend to play with her.

“I…I’m coming. Right away.” She sobered up and immediately shrank into the nest of blanket. She yawned as she got dressed, “Ah…it’s all Han Shi Yu’s fault. I slept at 2am last night.”

Liu Zuo Ye: “Uncle looked pretty refreshed and spirited to me.”

Yang Han ruffled her messy hair as she got up, putting on her slippers before walking into the living room where she saw the messy scene of last night’s adventure that was left half cleaned up. Han Shi Yu leaned back onto the sofa in the middle of the ruins, drinking milk while he watched a documentary.

Seeing Yang Han come out, Han Shi Yu pointed to the kitchen with the remote control and said, “There’s takeout in the kitchen. It’s gotten cold so heat it up yourself.”

Yang Han squinted her eyes at this guy.

His hair had all collapsed and flattened, bangs a little long. Messy but not unbearable, looking a little melancholy yet not losing his elegance. He wore an extremely loose, oversized top, appearing like he had no bones when nestled in it. Sunken into the sofa, he was surrounded by gaming controllers and snacks.

Yang Han scratched her cheek and said in a lazy voice, “Who are you.”

She couldn’t help but say that Han Shi Yu maintained his youth and looks really well.

This was just like a non-mainstream otaku.

Han Shi Yu: “Your dad.”

Yang Han let out a disdainful hum then walked into the kitchen. After some rustling about, she let out a wail at the peculiar breakfast. “I don’t like to eat any of these.”

“Well, it’s not like I knew what you’d like to eat.” Han Shi Yu put the glass of milk down on the table and shouted across the room, “I just bought it to your dad’s liking.”

Han Shi Yu ultimately was the person who delivered takeouts to Yang Mo for two whole years after all. He knew Yang Mo’s eating habits like the back of his hands.

Yang Mo’s taste was really heavy throughout all three meals. Usually, the salty tofu he has for breakfast is covered with a thin layer of red chili oil on top.

That was not the case for Yang Han.

Yang Mo had been accommodating to Yang Han’s taste, so their family meals had always been relatively light.

Han Shi Yu would squeeze Yang Mo’s waist occasionally or pick him up to weigh him as he sighed in pain, “There’s not much meat left.”

That pig farmer-like tone of his voice and behavior would always end up with a series of severe beating.

Yang Han put the takeaway down and said, “Alright.”

“If you don’t like it, don’t force yourself then. There’s some white porridge inside for you to make do with.” Han Shi Yu said, “If it’s not enough, I’ll order more.”

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“What do you want to eat,” Liu Zuo Ye said to Yang Han, “I’ll go buy it for you.”

Yang Han of course felt bad about bothering her, so she scratcher the back of her head and said, “Thanks, but it’s okay.”

On a whim, she took the apron hanging on the side and put it on, “I’ll make something myself.”

Liu Zuo Ye raised an eyebrow.

As expected, the eldest princess burned her hand while frying an egg and ended up getting a small blister.

The helpless Liu Zuo Ye had no choice but to personally take over, helping Yang Han finish making her breakfast. Then, she blew air on the teary-eyed Yang Han’s hand.

It felt shameful to say, but because Yang Han was spoiled by Yang Mo, she had never cooked on her own before. Yet on her first try, she injured herself, so it was somewhat humiliating. Even though it was painful, she still held it in without screaming, like a balloon filled to the brim with water.

Seeing Yang Han’s state, Liu Zuo Ye grabbed her hand and she blew air on it, couldn’t help herself but say, “This is my first time touching hands that had never done any hard work.”

“……” Yang Han’s ears reddened by a shade.

Han Shi Yu returned from retrieving ointment, he said worriedly, “My god…does it hurt?”

“No, it’s really nothing…just a small blister…” Yang Han got increasingly embarrassed at the excessive concern shown by the two of them as if she really was a spoiled princess who couldn’t even handle a small bump or blister.

Seeing that it wasn’t too serious, Han Shi Yu sighed in relief before saying apprehensively while applying the burn ointment, “You…You must not tell your dad about this.”

Yang Han: “Ah?”

If the faraway Yang Mo caught wind that Han Shi Yu had silently given his permission for Yang Han to enter the kitchen to cook for herself, ending up with a burnt hand.

Then the Han Shi Yu two months from now would suffer an extremely terrible end.

Yang Han seemed to have caught on. She didn’t think of that at first, but Han Shi Yu reminded her. This led to her discovering a wonderful method of solving this problem.

“Well, it will have to depend on the situation.” Yang Han said in a condescending tone.

“……” Han Shi Yu said, “Are you threatening me.”

Yang Han: “Ah, am I?”

Money is sometimes the quickest shortcut to solving a problem.

With money, there’s nothing you can’t do.

This was the belief that Han Shi Yu lived by. Thanks to the wound on her hand, the eldest princess spent a very luxurious day.

The afternoon breeze was really refreshing when Han Shi Yu drove them around. In the end, he finally collapsed in a Starbucks at the mall, not wanting to move anymore as he used their WiFi there.

Yang Han and Liu Zuo Ye continued to stay out to have fun.

Han Shi Yu calculated the time difference in his head before taking out his phone and placing it on the table, staring at Yang Mo’s profile photo in a daze.

It once was the default profile photo of a grayish avatar, which was changed to a rose on a small planet at Han Shi Yu’s request. Meanwhile, Han Shi Yu’s profile photo was the little prince.

When he first got this number from Lu You Qi, he was secretly excited inside for a long time. After showering and getting dressed, only then did he solemnly send out a friend request.

Even after becoming acquainted, Han Shi Yu maintained the state of constant restraint in front of Yang Mo, like he wanted to be closer but was hesitant too. He thought he was simply in awe or full of respect for a senior, but later found out that he was actually in love.

Many years had passed and his brain’s algorithm had formed the habit of suggesting relevant and interesting content tagged with the label ‘Yang Mo’ to him whenever he was in a daze or daydreaming. As a result, his mind was full of only this person.

Han Shi Yu sucked a mouthful of iced americano, his eyebrows knitted closely together. He glanced at the cup in his hand and wondered why Yang Mo would like to drink something like this.

He was about to put down the coffee in his hand when he caught sight of Yang Han and Liu Zuo Ye wandering outside through the glass window.

Liu Zuo Ye was about 5’8’ tall and could be spotted almost instantly in the crowd of girls.

He spotted Yang Han not far away, trying to get a toy from the claw machine. Liu Zuo Ye leaned on the side and watched her. There was a bright smile on Xiao Yang’s face. Their mouths kept opening and closing and Han Shi Yu couldn’t quite hear what they were saying from where he was.

He only saw how Liu Zuo Ye reached out her hand, curled her finger slightly to rub the top of Yang Han’s nose.

That was probably a small, unintentional but habitual action. Because after doing so, Liu Zuo Ye’s expression did not falter or change much. But Yang Han’s smile suddenly froze, her eyes blinking twice helplessly before she hurriedly turned her head back to the machine.

Han Shi Yu watched on and stopped sucking his drink. The black coffee liquid hovered within the straw.

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For some reason, after that, Yang Han couldn’t catch anything no matter how she tried. She hung her head in disappointment before clinging to the glass case to stare at the toys inside longingly.

Yang Han decided to give up still and proposed, “…Let’s go for the movies?”

Liu Zuo Ye: “Sure.”

“You don’t have to spend any money. It’ll be my treat.” Yang Han said, “I haven’t gotten a chance to thank you for tutoring me last time.”

The two of them didn’t seem to have any intention of bringing along Han Shi Yu. Yang Han seemed a little nervous when she used the back of her hand to touch Liu Zuo Ye’s, like a dragonfly lightly dipping on the surface of the water.

She gritted her teeth and finally grabbed onto her hand, then said in a tone like she couldn’t wait any longer, “Let’s go, let’s go.”

Han Shi Yu finished his coffee till only ice was left without realizing it. He frowned a little, thinking things were not as simple as it seemed.

Small actions like holding hands and touching faces between female friends shouldn’t be worth such tension or nervousness.

Han Shi Yu threw the trash aside, pulled the sunglasses from his chest and slowly put them on with his legs spread wide.

The passing waiter couldn’t help but glance at him, but suddenly found this customer looking a little familiar…but he definitely had a different temperament.

He got up and pretended to follow after them like nothing had happened.