CH 34

Of course, Lin Yuxing couldn’t be blamed entirely for being nervous.

Others may not know, but Lin Yuxing could see clearly – Gu Zhongyi was extremely arrogant at the moment, to the point of being “cocky”.

Lin Yuxing couldn’t believe it. Overnight, a perfectly fine person could actually change.

Could it be that Gu Zhongyi also had a mental breakdown last night?

Lin Yuxing’s face burned hotly, feeling the extraordinary sensation of being pressed against the wall by the person he secretly admired. He couldn’t indulge Gu Zhongyi’s jokes anymore and kept demanding that Gu Zhongyi let him go.

At that moment, a weak “morning” completely broke the tense atmosphere between the two.

Gu Nuan rubbed his eyes and appeared at the kitchen door.

Lin Yuxing changed his embarrassment and sweetly smiled, quickly getting into character, “Gu Nuan, what’s wrong?”

Gu Nuan, half-awake, touched the door frame, “Where are the cups in the living room? I want to drink water.” He struggled to open his eyes and saw Lin Yuxing and Gu Zhongyi in the kitchen, acting affectionate towards each other.

Gu Nuan froze and quickly retreated, shouting loudly, “Sorry, sorry! I disturbed you!”

He slipped away and thoughtfully turned back to close the door for them.

If Gu Nuan had a key in his hand , he would have locked the door for them. Lock them inside so they wouldn’t come to “scare” people early in the morning.

Outside, Su Li stretched lazily, “Gu Nuan, you look like you saw a ghost”

Gu Nuan put a finger to his lips, “shh!”

In Gu Nuan’s eyes, when Gu Zhongyi got angry, he was scarier than any ghost. He pushed Su Li back and heard the buzzing vibration.

Both of them looked at Lin Yuxing’s phone on the coffee table and jostled each other.

Gu Nuan: “You go.”

Su Li: “You go.”

Gu Nuan: “I’m not going.”

Su Li: “Then I’m not going either.”

Gu Nuan: “What if it’s an important call…”

Su Li: “Let me see.”

Looking at it was a dilemma. The caller ID on the screen was undoubtedly a call that Lin Yuxing should answer. Su Li handed the phone to Gu Nuan and said with emphasis, “You’re Gu Zhongyi’s relative, I’m an outsider, your chance of survival is greater than mine.”

Makes sense.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen.

The playacting was over, and Lin Yuxing pushed Gu Zhongyi, “Senior, stop fooling around.”

“You haven’t told me, who did you dream of?” Gu Zhongyi didn’t care at all that there was a third wheel outside. He was confident that no one would dare to come to the kitchen now.

It was his territory, and he had the final say.

Lin Yuxing was extremely embarrassed and didn’t dare to look at Gu Zhongyi. With a clever idea, he bent down and slipped out from under Gu Zhongyi’s arm when he wasn’t paying attention.

His heartbeat was irregular. He couldn’t get angry at Gu Zhongyi teases anymore, even though he still felt irritated. He was also well aware that Gu Zhongyi didn’t have any feelings for him, so he could joke without any reservations.

But it was different for him. A wall slam almost cost him his life as his heart was beating so fast.

Lin Yuxing stood there feeling frustrated. They say the one who falls in love first always loses, but at least those who lose have a chance. He had no chance at all. He lowered his head gloomily, opened the plastic bag, and arranged the breakfast Gu Zhongyi had bought one by one.

Gu Zhongyi knew he had gone too far and quickly restrained his teasing. He asked in a soft spoken manner, “Do you have time in the afternoon?”

“No,” Lin Yuxing replied without raising his head.

“I want to arrange for you to meet the child. If there are no problems, you can start tutoring him tomorrow.”

The temptation of 400 yuan per hour for tutoring was indeed significant.

Lin Yuxing quickly forgave Gu Zhongyi’s teasing and changed his tone eagerly, “Yes! I have time!”

Gu Zhongyi then smiled and rubbed his head, “Hmm, shall we have dinner together tonight?”

“Huh?”

“I…” Gu Zhongyi coughed lightly, feeling a little embarrassed. His ears even turned red. “I have something to tell you, privately. It can’t be said now.”

To avoid any misunderstandings, Gu Zhongyi added, “It’s a good thing.”

He still had two light bulbs at home, and his preparations were basic. It wasn’t suitable for confessing. Although Gu Zhongyi had lived for almost thirty years, he lacked some romantic genes and needed some good preparation.

Hearing that it was good news, Lin Yuxing mistakenly believed that Gu Zhongyi had found him another part-time job besides tutoring. He was very grateful for Gu Zhongyi’s help but felt like a traitor with a hanging and uncertain heart. He wanted to apologize, but then Gu Nuan interrupted them.

Gu Nuan knocked on the door twice, opened a crack, and placed his phone on the kitchen counter before saying, “Please forgive me! I’ll give you a big red envelope when you get married!”

After saying that, he ran away.

Lin Yuxing’s phone screen displayed “Aunt” as the caller.

……

Around three o’clock in the afternoon.

Lin Yuxing took a plane to the distant D City, far away from City C.

Unlike the clear weather in City C, D City was experiencing continuous drizzle, accompanied by a damp and cold atmosphere.

The wind made Lin Yuxing shiver. He looked at the time on his phone and made up his mind. He downloaded a ride app.

He entered the destination and waited for a while.

Due to the remote location, there were no drivers accepting the request.

Being his first time taking a plane, Lin Yuxing didn’t know what to do. He wandered around for a long time before someone pointed him in the direction of the taxi waiting area. He ran to each taxi and asked one by one. After about half an hour, a driver finally agreed to take the fare at a fixed price of 280 yuan.

It was a rather old taxi that couldn’t even turn on the air conditioning.

Lin Yuxing hesitated for a moment upon hearing the price but finally agreed.

By the time he got into the car, his hands were already red from the cold.

On his phone, he received a message from Gu Zhongyi half an hour ago: [Have you arrived?]

Lin Yuxing immediately made a call in response, “Senior.”

Gu Zhongyi asked, “Where are you now?”

“I’m in a taxi, I took a cab,” Lin Yuxing shivered from the cold, “Thank you for buying me the plane ticket, I’ll transfer the money to you.”

“We’ll talk about that later. Don’t worry too much, your aunt may just be tired.”

“Yeah,” Lin Yuxing looked out the window wearily.

Gu Zhongyi said, “If there’s anything you can’t handle on your own, be sure to let me know.”

Lin Yuxing hesitated for a moment and replied casually, “Yeah.”

He didn’t want Gu Zhongyi to see the mess at home, nor did he want Gu Zhongyi to get involved. As someone who lacked money, he shouldn’t have had any self-esteem, but after realizing his feelings for Gu Zhongyi, he humbly hoped that Gu Zhongyi wouldn’t know about those things.

Gu Zhongyi repeatedly urged, “Yuxing, no matter what difficulties you face, I will help you. If you have any problems, you must tell me, understand?”

“It’s alright, I’m used to dealing with things at home. You don’t have to worry too much,” Lin Yuxing hung up the phone and closed his eyes with a slight headache.

The car drove for a long time, all the way from the spacious airport to a backward town.

The navigation system was still guiding.

The driver kept complaining about the bad road conditions and regretted accepting that ride.

In the rearview mirror, Lin Yuxing remained silent throughout the journey. He didn’t bring any luggage, and he was still wearing the old sneakers with frayed edges. He didn’t want to wear new shoes back, so he temporarily left them at Gu Zhongyi’s apartment.

The only thing he had on his neck was the scarf Gu Zhongyi gave him.

Lin Yuxing lowered his head, burying his face in the scarf, which no longer carried any hint of bitter orange pheromones. He tightly grasped the scarf, his heart filled with unease.

At six in the evening, the car stopped in front of a shabby hospital.

Lin Yuxing transferred the taxi fare to the driver and hurriedly got out of the car.

The driver, dissatisfied, rolled down the window and looked at the desolate place. He shouted, “Young man, I’m going to spend a lot of fuel going back, and the road was difficult to drive on. you gave me very little money”

Lin Yuxing hesitated and said, “You set the price yourself.”

“If I knew it would be so troublesome, I wouldn’t have taken this ride. I’m not scaring you, you know how difficult the journey was. Look at my car, it’s all covered in mud. Isn’t washing the car also going to cost money? You should’ve given a bit more, this is too little!”

Seeing the driver’s imposing manner, Lin Yuxing was afraid he would get out of the car and said, after checking his balance, “Can I give you an extra 5 yuan?”

“The driver sneered.

Seeing Lin Yuxing’s poor appearance and young age, he knew he wouldn’t get much money from him. He clicked his tongue and considered himself unlucky, saying, ‘Just give me an extra 20!’

Lin Yuxing wanted to negotiate the price but the driver shouted again, ‘It should have been 50 originally, but I won’t argue anymore. If you keep nagging, I’ll go inside the hospital and ask it from your family!’

Lin Yuxing quickly turned around.

The driver rolled his eyes and drove away.

The hospital in the small town was simple, more like a larger health clinic.

After asking at the nurse’s station, Lin Yuxing entered a simple ward. There were three beds in total, with only Lin Xiufeng lying on one of them. There was someone sitting by the bed and someone else standing.

The person standing was Cheng Shaohua, who had intellectual disabilities. He was holding a peeled orange and crying while eating.

The person sitting was Cheng Rong. He was peeling a second orange for himself. Since Lin Xiufeng fell ill, that family seemed to have lost its backbone.

As soon as Cheng Rong saw the dusty Lin Yuxing, he angrily threw the orange peel at him and said, ‘You useless scoundrel, you actually had the audacity to come back?’

Lin Yuxing remained silent and walked to the bedside.

Lin Xiufeng had her eyes closed, looking tired. On the way there, Lin Yuxing had asked the nurse in advance, and the answer he received was completely different from what Cheng Shaohua had said on the phone.

Cheng Shaohua clearly said on the phone that Lin Xiufeng was coughing up blood and might not make it, asking Lin Yuxing to come back quickly. However, the nurse said that Lin Xiufeng was only exhausted and collapsed due to poor nutrition.

It wasn’t a big deal that she collapsed, but luck was still against them.

Lin Xiufeng fell from a high platform in the factory. Her thigh was bandaged, and she had stitches on her head. Fortunately, they were not major injuries that would have lasting effects. However, she would probably have to rest in bed for the winter.

People from the factory came to visit, bringing some oranges and bananas, as well as some compensation money.

The amount of money wasn’t much, and Cheng Rong pocketed it all.

Cheng Shaohua ran toward Lin Yuxing while crying, ‘Brother, brother, I’m scared… Dad hit me, I’m scared.’ He was a few years older than Lin Yuxing and an Alpha, but he had always called Lin Yuxing ‘brother’ since he was young.

Looking at Cheng Shaohua, who was a head taller, Lin Yuxing felt helpless. He imitated Gu Zhongyi and gently rubbed Cheng Shaohua’s head, saying in a kind tone, ‘It’s okay, don’t be afraid.’

It was the first time Cheng Shaohua had his head rubbed by Lin Yuxing, and he smiled foolishly. He resembled Lin Xiufeng and had a slight resemblance to Lin Yuxing as well.

He wiped away his tears and complained, ‘Dad asked me to make the call. He said a sentence, and told me to repeat it…’

An orange hit Cheng Shaohua.

After all, he was his own flesh and blood, and Cheng Rong couldn’t bear to hit him for real. He scolded, ‘You ungrateful brat’

Terrified, Cheng Shaohua hid behind Lin Yuxing, shrinking his shoulders and shedding tears. He said, ‘He might hit me if I said it wrong. Dad hits me! I don’t want dad! I only want mom and brother!’

‘You little beast!’ Cheng Rong said extremely angry.

Lin Yuxing turned around, comforted Cheng Shaohua for a few moments, and asked him, ‘Shaohua, we’ve learned from TV. What should we do when others are sleeping?’

Cheng Shaohua blinked his teary eyes and said softly, ‘We should be quiet.’

‘Yes, we should be quiet.’ Lin Yuxing rubbed his head again and showed patience to Cheng Shaohua. ‘You go sit by Mom’s side obediently. Shall I buy you some candy to eat?’

‘Okay!’ Cheng Shaohua always listened to Lin Yuxing, so he nodded, no longer crying or making a fuss.

Lin Yuxing tucked Lin Xiufeng’s blanket and glanced at the IV drip, calmly saying to Cheng Rong, ‘You didn’t call me back this time because of Aunt, right? Let’s talk outside.'”

.