Reluctantly Willing

When An Xiaoyan returned home, Guo Guo had already finished the milk. He was lying on the ground, playing with his fingers. When An Xiaoyan came in, he clapped happily.

Kids were always so happy. An Xiaoyan relaxed subconsciously when he was with children.

"This is your food. Can you eat it yourself?"

Guo Guo stared at him blankly. An Xiaoyan realized that he'd forgotten to bring utensils. He'd only been thinking about the food and forgot about the tools.

"Let's wash our hands first, okay? After your hands are clean, you can eat the tasty egg and rice."

Guo Guo's eyes sparkled. He motioned that he wanted to get off the bed to wash his hands. Children were so simple and innocent. The dark shadows in An Xiaoyan's heart mostly dispelled.

After washing his small hands, Guo Guo leaned on the table and shoved food into his mouth with his hands. A few mouthfuls later, his face was covered in sauce. An Xiaoyan couldn't eat his own food. He had to take care of Guo Guo first.

After Guo Guo was full, he opened his arms for a hug. An Xiaoyan took his hands and hugged him. In his eyes, this child wasn't as useless as Gu Jun had said. He knew what he wanted.

"Uncle will take you to a bath now. How about we sleep after bathing?"

He filled the bathtub with water. Guo Guo jumped in with his clothes still on. A few ducks floated in the warm water. Guo Guo squeezed the ducks with interest and played in the bathtub.

After wrestling for a long while, An Xiaoyan felt half-dead. He'd been on the highway the entire day and he didn't eat lunch. His stomach had started grumbling long ago. His health hadn't recovered fully yet and now, his empty stomach was in pain.

There was still a lot of fried rice and vegetables leftover on the table. He decided to just eat it.

The coldness of the food went from his mouth to his stomach. He was human too. He could feel pain and all sorts of emotions. Gu Jun was tormenting him time after time, eroding his hope.

A few bites later, An Xiaoyan couldn't eat anymore. He cleaned things up and lay down beside Guo Guo. His cold body couldn't warm up the bed. He could only get close to Guo Guo and feel his warmth.

The next day, when An Xiaoyan was still sleeping, he felt something grab his hand. Opening his eyes, he saw Guo Guo's hand in front of his eyes. Seeing that An Xiaoyan had woken up, Guo Guo clapped happily.

An Xiaoyan had thought about many things for a long while before falling asleep the night before. He had obvious dark circles under his eyes when he woke up, but he couldn't catch up on sleep. They had to keep traveling today.

The two packed up. Then, holding Guo Guo's hand, An Xiaoyan led him to Gu Jun's door.

"When the man comes out, call him 'Daddy'," An Xiaoyan told Guo Guo while squatting. He still wished Guo Guo could get Gu Jun's affection. Father-and-son shouldn't have long-term hatred between them.

When the door opened, Guo Guo obediently called out "Daddy." This sudden utterance confused Gu Jun. Then he brought Guo Guo into the room, leaving An Xiaoyan standing outside alone.

An Xiaoyan didn't know that when Gu Jun heard the word, he was thinking about why Guo Guo suddenly said it. Usually, this kid would never call for his dad for no reason. If he wasn't crying, he'd be asking for a hug. Since Guo Guo had spent the night with An Xiaoyan, he knew that An Xiaoyan must have taught him something.

After all these years, his son still wasn't close to him. Now, he'd become close to An Xiaoyan after just one night. It made his ego plummet.

When they set off again, An Xiaoyan couldn't sit with Guo Guo as he'd wished. Instead, Gu Jun made the rare exception to put Guo Guo in shotgun.

Along the way, Gu Jun kept playing with the kid with toys and snacks. An Xiaoyan was relieved. The greeting in the morning had worked. At least, Gu Jun knew to pay attention to his son now. An Xiaoyan's tense nerves relaxed. He leaned back in his seat and fell asleep. The mental pressure and exhaustion from sitting in the car made him sleep heavily.

"Get up. We're here," Gu Jun called to the backseat.

An Xiaoyan woke up with a start. He looked out the window. The chain of mountains was still so familiar. The car had just passed the city and was driving toward the town.

The surroundings became more and more familiar. Without realizing, tears filled An Xiaoyan's eyes. This was where he'd grown up. He hadn't come back in more than four years and he didn't know if his home had changed.

Gu Jun didn't need An Xiaoyan's directions. He'd already checked all of An Xiaoyan's information. The car stopped before a house. When a man in his fifties at the door saw the car stop, he hurriedly stood to the side to make way. However, the car didn't leave. A few people got out.

An Xiaoyan had seen his father standing by the door from the distance. The moment the car stopped, he wiped his tears away, tidied up, and slowly got out of the car.

"Yan Zi!"

"Dad, I'm back."

Gu Jun also brought Guo Guo down. He had the driver take out all the things before telling him to park the car.

Father An gaped at the man in the elegant suit and the clean little kid beside him. "Yan Zi, what's with this?" he asked hurriedly.

"Dad, this is my boss. He said he wants to bring his kid to experience rural life."

Hearing that the man was the boss, Father An moved to shake his hand. His outstretched hand stood in stark contrast to that of the "boss". One was smooth from working in the office; the other was tanned from years of labor.

"My hand's dirty so I won't shake it. Your kid's around four or five, right? He looks so cute. Oh, I keep talking. Hurry on in."

Gu Jun really didn't want to shake his hand. The tanned hand had cracks and it made him uncomfortable. After walking into the home, Guo Guo shook away Gu Jun's hand. He ran to An Xiaoyan and latched onto his leg.

Gu Jun turned and this scene entered his eyes. All these years of care couldn't compete with one day with An Xiaoyan. Hatred subconsciously surged through Gu Jun once more.