Reluctantly Willing

Gu Jun didn’t leave at night. An Xiaoyan sat at the dinner table, not knowing what to do.

“This is Mr. An’s dinner.” The nanny placed the food down and left.

“How long will I stay here for?”

Gu Jun put down his utensils. Hearing this, his heart clenched. Did An Xiaoyan hate him this much—to the point of being unwilling to be with him?

“Don’t go. Stay here forever.”

He thought An Xiaoyan would protest, but his expression didn’t change. “Okay. I won’t go.”

Reassured, Gu Jun watched An Xiaoyan eat the pork porridge quietly. The two just sat there like that.

“Go wash up.”

An Xiaoyan obediently went to the bathroom upstairs. When he went into the room with still-dripping hair, Gu Jun was already in bed.

Gu Jun patted the bed, motioning for him to come. An Xiaoyan took off his towel without hesitation and sprawled onto the bed, naked. He waited for a long while, but nothing happened.

Gu Jun straightened his body. “Face me and sleep.”

“You won’t do it?” His body had value now.

Gu Jun wanted to say something, but he pushed it down. “You haven’t recovered yet. Sleep.”

Confirming that Gu Jun wasn’t moving, An Xiaoyan gradually dozed off. His health made him tired all the time.

When steady breathing came from beside Gu Jun, he pushed himself up and lifted An Xiaoyan’s longish hair. He studied An Xiaoyan’s features seriously. His sickness hadn’t reduced his beauty at all. For some reason, Gu Jun’s heart started pounding.

It was like electricity surged from his head to toe. He reached out to hug An Xiaoyan, resting his chin against the other’s head.

When An Xiaoyan woke up the next day, no one was beside him. However, there was still a lump under the blanket.

An Xiaoyan lifted the blanket. “Hey!” someone cried.

Guo Guo, clad in pajamas, emerged from the blanket. An Xiaoyan almost fell onto the ground in fright. Seeing An Xiaoyan, Guo Guo laughed happily and used his stubby arms to take off his clothes.

An Xiaoyan looked down subconsciously. In panic, he covered his lower half with the blanket, face reddening. He’d forgotten that he wasn’t wearing clothes. Thankfully, Guo Guo was still young and didn’t know anything. Otherwise, it would be quite awkward.

…

As soon as Gu Jun got to the company, Chen Chen handed him a document. “There’s an event at night. You have to go.”

“What kind?”

“The old man’s dinner. Apparently, he wants to investigate. Mr. Gu Jing is also going.”

Gu Jun tugged down his tie in frustration. “Got it. Prepare a gift. You’re going with me.”

Gu Mansion

The old man was almost 60 years old, but the core resources were still in his hands. One had to get his recognition to get the inheritance. This was why Gu Jun had to go back.

By the time he arrived, everyone was there in the main hall. Old Gu glanced at his son with an upset expression. How could he be late for an event like this?

“I said seven o’clock. What time is it now?”

Gu Jun ignored him. He sat on the couch and saw that Gu Jing had a girl beside him.

Old Gu huffed. He’d raised his son, so he knew Gu Jun’s personality. “This is Jing Er’s girlfriend, Gao Shan from the Gao family.”

Gu Jun already knew about this. He looked down on those who relied on women.

“Alright, everyone’s here. Let’s start dinner.”

Old Gu only called them back for appearances. One was his son and the other was his nephew. He only did this to show that he had no bias. Anyone could inherit his position if they had the abilities.

When they’d eaten for a while, Gu Jing took a glass of wine and walked to Gu Jun.

“I heard that your enemy committed suicide?”

“What’s it to you? I don’t think it has anything to do with you, right?”

Gu Jing smiled. “It doesn’t, but recently, I heard that you have him living in your home now. That’s rare.”

Gu Jun ignored him. After eating, he went straight to his car and left. There were lights outside the window. Thinking of the person waiting for him at home, he actually felt anticipation.

The moment a smile appeared on his face, it froze. What was he anticipating? Seeing An Xiaoyan?

The car parked beside a bridge for a long while. Gu Jun got out of the car and lit a cigarette. He gazed at the strings of light and rippling water across from him.

After calming down, he seemed to understand something. A sliver of his heart had been filled by An Xiaoyan. The roaring waves flowed into his heart as well. They were unable to be settled, like his emotions that day he learned An Xiaoyan had committed suicide.

The breeze felt chilly on his face.

He touched his face and felt cold liquid. It was like at the hospital. His heart must really be moved.

It was almost one a.m. when he returned to the mansion. Just as Gu Jun changed his shoes, he saw a small figure at the stairs on the second floor.

His heart was filled instantly.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I can’t sleep,” An Xiaoyan answered honestly.

“Let’s drink.”

“Okay.”

Gu Jun took a bottle of whisky from the wine cellar and poured a glass for An Xiaoyan.

An Xiaoyan clutched the glass and downed it without hesitation. He’d drunk so much at the Night Charm. His drinking abilities had improved too. However, he felt a bit dizzy after just one glass. He still wasn’t used to hard liquor like whiskey.

Gu Jun didn’t drink at all. When he saw An Xiaoyan get sleepy, he put down his glass and brought An Xiaoyan to bed.

“An Xiaoyan?” Gu Jun murmured.

An Xiaoyan blearily opened an eye and said something like, “Gu Jun, is it going to take a long time before I can repay everything?”

Gu Jun stroked his cheek and lowered his head to kiss him. It was just a light touch and then he recoiled back. He touched his lips. He’d never thought a man’s skin could be so soft and sweet.

The night was long. Gu Jun couldn’t fall asleep at all. After thinking for a long while, he sent a message to Chen Chen.

Chen Chen saw Gu Jun’s message as soon as he woke up. Gu Jun told him to buy a lot of medical books and send them to the mansion.

Are these for An Xiaoyan?

…

“Uncle! Uncle!” Guo Guo exclaimed while pointing at the TV. There was an ice cream advertisement. “Eat! Eat!”

“Guo Guo wants this?”

Guo Guo nodded and looked at An Xiaoyan in anticipation.

“Uncle can’t go out right now. I don’t have money either. How about we wait for Daddy to come back and you ask him?”

Kids always had strong desires. Guo Guo shook his head and tried dragging An Xiaoyan outside.

“Guo Guo, Daddy will be back soon. I can’t go out.”

Guo Guo stopped. His big clear eyes shone with tears.

Seeing that the tears were about to spill out, An Xiaoyan squatted down to comfort him. “Uncle doesn’t have money. I can’t buy anything even if we go out, so let’s not eat it today, alright?”

Guo Guo shook his head. He let go of An Xiaoyan’s hand and climbed upstairs. He handed An Xiaoyan a folded bill a while later.

He really was thoughtful. An Xiaoyan took the money and hugged Guo Guo.

“Okay, Uncle will go buy it. You stay home and wait. You’ll have ice cream in a little bit.”

Guo Guo climbed onto the sofa and obediently waited for An Xiaoyan to come back.

It was starting to get cold outside. An Xiaoyan pulled his clothes tightly around him. This was a residential area and he didn’t know where he could find a store.

He walked aimlessly and after a while, he reached the entrance of the neighborhood. A kind old man told him there was a store about a kilometer away.

Thanking the man profusely, he walked to the store. As soon as he arrived, his phone rang.

Liu Cheng had given him this phone. Seeing it, he thought of Liu Cheng and he felt heavy. The SIM card belonged to him previously. The other phone had broken after getting tossed into the wine at the Night Charm. Thankfully, the SIM card still worked.

He hadn’t had a phone for a long while, so Dong Zi couldn’t reach him.

“Hello, Brother? You there? Bad news!” Dong Zi’s panicking voice streamed over.

“Where are you?” An Xiaoyan asked calmly. “I’ll go there right now.”

“The warehouse. Hurry over.”

An Xiaoyan was about to pay for the ice cream, but he couldn’t bother now. He took the money and hurried toward Dong Zi’s warehouse.

He’d already lost Liu Cheng. He couldn’t lose anyone else. This was also a chance to make Dong Zi take Ye Qing away. An Xiaoyan was a demon. Anyone who touched him would get his bad luck.

Guo Guo had given him a fifty. An Xiaoyan walked to a busier place and took a taxi to the warehouse.

As soon as he got to the warehouse, Dong Zi rushed over. “Brother, something happened to Ye Qing.”

When he entered the warehouse, he saw Ye Qing sitting dazedly on the bed. Her eyes were empty. Her previous energy was gone.

“There’s a guy in her supermarket. They’d gotten along well, but yesterday, she came back and kept crying. I don’t know what happened. Nothing I say works.”

She was probably hurt from love. An Xiaoyan took Dong Zi to the door and said, “Take Ye Qing away. Don’t stay here anymore.”

“Is it because of that guy from the hospital? I should’ve beaten him up!”

“No, it’s because of Ye Qing. A change of scenery can help her recover. I can’t do much except wish you two will be okay.”

Dong Zi was still too young. He really thought that An Xiaoyan was saying this for Ye Qing. He swore that he would protect Ye Qing.

“Remember to keep in touch.”

“Brother, you’re the one who should contact us. You don’t know how worried we were when we couldn’t hear from you for so long. You can’t abandon us again.”

“Okay.”

“Brother, live well. No matter what, nothing’s more important than your life. If you have trouble, tell me.”

“Okay.”

Despite his words, An Xiaoyan didn’t know if this would be their last meeting. Even if they were just passersby in his life, they’d left the best memories for him.

This was enough. Keeping the warmth in his heart was enough.

When everything was settled, An Xiaoyan finally remembered what he’d promised. He’d been out here for more than three hours. He had to hurry back, or else Guo Guo would get upset.

The more worried he was, the more difficult things were.

He only had ten dollars left of the fifty that he used to come. He could only walk back.

It took more than three hours to walk from the city to the house. There weren’t many drivers on the wintry road.

As he walked, it started snowing. Snowflakes fell down on him. An Xiaoyan stopped walking and looked up at the sky. The snowflakes were so beautiful under the light, falling down one after another.

A gust of wind blew over. He pulled his coat tighter while the snowflakes landed on his shoulder.

The snow grew heavier. Gu Jun gazed at the whiteness in the distance. When he passed by a flower shop, he impulsively bought a bouquet of red silk-cotton flowers.

The florist patiently explained to him that he should give these flowers to someone he liked, especially if it was his first time giving them flowers. They weren’t as bold as roses, but they represented newly-bloomed love.

Gu Jun couldn’t wait to give them to An Xiaoyan. He could already imagine An Xiaoyan’s smile when he gave him the flowers.