CH 19

Lin Ran stood beside the table, he was in a daze for a long time before he finally sat down obediently and ate his breakfast. 

During the day, he worked again at home, and he received a call from Song Zhi Xu at noon who said with a hint of coldness in his voice, “Lin Ran, I’ve had someone bring you lunch and leave it at the door later. You take it in yourself.”

“Hmm, okay.” Lin Ran immediately agreed, he wanted to ask Song Zhi Xu when he would be back, but the other side suddenly said, 

“I have a dinner party in the evening, I won’t go back for dinner but I’ll have someone bring you dinner later in the evening.”

Lin Ran’s hand holding the phone tightened and pursed his lips as he said in a low voice, “But… But you haven’t taught Ran Ran how to use the mobile phone.”

Lin Ran hadn’t touched the phone since it was delivered yesterday, wanting to wait until Song Zhi Xu returned in the evening to teach him, but Song Zhi Xu hadn’t been able to teach him in the evening either, and he also had left very early in the morning, so he still didn’t know how to use it.

Song Zhi Xu was silent for a while. 

“You can learn by yourself by looking at the instruction book first, and then later I’ll use your ID card to get you a phone card so you’ll be able to use it.”

“Okay.” Lin Ran agreed. Before hanging up the phone, he said in a small voice again, “Then… Song Zhi Xu, you come back home earlier!” 

Song Zhi Xu replied with indifferent “Hn”.

It didn’t take long for lunch to be sent over and the person at the entrance rang the doorbell and left. 

Lin Ran leaned over the floor-to-ceiling window to make sure that the person had gone out before he carefully opened the door and quickly brought in the lunch and put it on the table.

Lin Ran sat pitifully all alone beside the coffee table, near his unpack food-box and silently bowing his head. 

It was until his neck was a little sore that he lifted his head, glanced at the large empty villa, leaned forward by the small side table and ate quietly.

After he finished eating, Lin Ran put the rest on the fridge and went out again to trim all the flowers and plants in the courtyard until the sunset crept up, then he ran back into the villa, crouched down next to the phone and waited in there quietly. 

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“Can Ran Ran not hang up the phone?” 

He had been at home by himself all day so all he wanted now was to hear Song Zhi Xu’s voice.

But Song Zhi Xu still refused it. 

“No, since after this, I have to go to a dinner party and my phone is in my pocket, so there’s no way that I can talk to you. Stay in the villa by yourself, I’ll go back at night.”

Lin Ran was somewhat disappointed, but he still agreed to it. 

Song Zhi Xu hung up the phone again, Lin Ran sat on the floor in this position and hugged himself tightly, shrinking into a ball and calling out Song Zhi Xu’s name in a small voice.

But the villa was empty and he was all alone, he could not get an answer. 

Lin Ran didn’t eat the dinner that was brought over, later he put it in the fridge after it had cooled on the table.

He didn’t have any appetite, so this time, he willfully had let himself go without dinner, thinking that when Song Zhi Xu found out he hadn’t eaten dinner after he returned, would Song Zhi Xu be angry with him? 

If he did, it was also good. He would still be able to listen to Song Zhi Xu’s talking voice.

Waiting until it was dark, Lin Ran turned on the lights in the villa and curled up on the sofa alone, quietly waiting for Song Zhi Xu. 

But Song Zhi Xu never returned, so he leaned back on the sofa and unconsciously fell asleep.

Having dinner at the social engagement dinner party, of course, drinking was inevitable. Although Song Zhi Xu did not drink much, he indeed carried the smell of alcohol with him and by the time he returned to the villa, it was already after eleven o’clock at night. 

In the courtyard he saw that the villa’s lights were still on so he frowned slightly.

Unexpectedly, Lin Ran was still awake at this hour. Is he waiting for him? 

Song Zhi Xu had some indescribable guilty conscience in his heart, he had left so early in the morning on purpose and actually he could just cancel this social engagement party but he still went.

Because he was avoiding Lin Ran, his physical reaction yesterday had startled him. He felt he needed to calm down so that was why he chose not to see Lin Ran. 

But now, seeing that the lights were still on inside the villa and thinking that Lin Ran might have been waiting for him until now, a flash of indescribable guilty feeling rose up in his heart.

Song Zhi Xu paused for a moment at the door before using his fingerprints to open the door to the villa. After walking in, there was no sound in the villa. Lin Ran curled up in a small ball, lying on the sofa, already asleep. The villa’s lights were still on, probably because he had waited for him for too long and was sleepy. 

Song Zhi Xu walked to the sofa and stood in front of Lin Ran, looking at him for a long time.

The sleeping Lin Ran on the sofa was a bit restless, his brow was still furrowed in his sleep, probably because it was cold at night so he was hugging himself tightly with his arms. 

After a while, Song Zhi Xu bent down to pick the person up and carried him upstairs.

Lin Ran didn’t have much flesh on his body, so carrying him like this, he didn’t weigh much but Song Zhi Xu still walked very slowly, as if he was afraid that the person in his embrace would be awake. 

Lin Ran moved and shrank into his embrace, muttering quietly, “Song Zhi Xu.”

Song Zhi Xu’s footsteps paused for a moment to make sure he was only talking in his sleep before he continued on his way. 

After putting Lin Ran back in his room, putting him to his bed and covering him with a blanket, only then Song Zhi Xu turned off the light for him and left.

Back downstairs, Song Zhi Xu poured a glass of water for himself and drank it, his gaze skimming to the place where Lin Ran had been lying, he stayed there for quite a long time. 

Probably because he had been drinking and was a little drunk, he felt that the villa was actually a little more alive and less empty because Lin Ran was there.

But with that, there was also some uneasiness and agitation; He seemed to be gradually getting out of control and this kind of feeling was really not a good one. 

So the next day, Song Zhi Xu still chose to get up early and go out. In addition to that, it was already in the middle of night when he returned.

He stayed like this for the next few days, sometimes not even coming back, socializing outside and finding a house close by to stay after he had a drink. 

He had a few houses in the capital and that villa wasn’t actually where he always lived. Since the villa was the place where he had lived as a child, therefore he came to that place more often.

Lin Ran could not see Song Zhi Xu all this time, despite his efforts to get up early yet he was still later than Song Zhi Xu. At night, he also could not wait until Song Zhi Xu returned. 

He could only hear Song Zhi Xu’s voice every day when the other party called him and asked him to bring the food inside. He knew that Song Zhi Xu was very busy, so both of them would not talk much either.

It was night again, Song Zhi Xu had just finished his social engagements and indescribably, he had this urge and told his driver to drop him off at the villa. 

Recently, he was indeed a bit busy. His company had a big project that had just been negotiated today. He had been drinking a lot of wine and the party did not disperse until the very early hours in the morning, so when he arrived at the villa it was already two o’clock in the morning.

Pushing open the door, the villa was dark inside, Song Zhi Xu suddenly had some stuffiness in his heart, he originally thought Lin Ran would still be waiting for him. 

But after a while he smiled again, all these days he was the one who was avoiding Lin Ran. That little fool should have realized it too so it was right not to wait for him.

Taking advantage of the moonlight outside the window, Song Zhi Xu held onto the handrail and went upstairs towards his bedroom. 

Before he could reach the door, he saw a small dark figure sitting and leaned against it.