Chapter 56.1
After dinner, Yu Le naturally assumed that Lu Yao would stay in Wucheng for the night. So, he was stunned when he learned that Lu Yao would have to rush back to Xuan City that very night.
“You really run back and forth in a day?” Yu Le frowned. “Aren’t you tired?”
Lu Yao replied, “Meeting parents is something that should be done with sincerity. How could it be tiring?”
Yu Le: “…”
Speechless.
Lu Yao smiled, playfully pinching his face. Seeing that Yu Le was still unhappy, he scratched his chin and said, “Be good, mainly because I have work tomorrow and need to head back. It’s only two hours; it’s the time of a nap, so it won’t be tiring.”
Yu Le still hadn’t relaxed his frown. “You should have said so earlier. I wouldn’t have let you come back with me at noon.”
Lu Yao: “It had to happen sooner or later. It’s better to come earlier than later to show sincerity.”
“Here we go again.” Yu Le ground his teeth. “Do you need me to praise you for not having the common procrastination problem of modern youth?”
Youth?
Lu Yao couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Do you think I’m old?”
Yu Le nearly couldn’t hold back a smile, but he managed to suppress it. “Lu Xun (Chinese writer and educator) said that one shouldn’t be too scattered in thinking. Mr. Lu, you’re overthinking.”
Learning from the experience, Yu Le was indeed quite the scholar.
Lu Yao chuckled, accompanying Yu Le back to the entrance of the community and said his goodbyes. “I need to go now; the plane is at 8:30. If I’m late, I might miss it.”
Yu Le asked, “Why choose such a rushed time? Isn’t your work tomorrow?”
Lu Yao explained, “I have to pick someone up when I get back.”
Yu Le inquired, “What client needs to be picked up in the middle of the night?”
Lu Yao replied, “Not a client, someone delivering a gift.”
Yu Le asked, “Do I know them?”
Lu Yao answered, “You probably haven’t met them.”
Yu Le subconsciously thought it might be a work friend of Lu Yao’s, and didn’t press further. “Alright then. Goodbye, and send me a message when you land.”
After Lu Yao left, Yu Le felt a bit unaccustomed to being alone. The absence of Lu Yao made the breeze feel less refreshing.
He sat downstairs for a while, then went to a nearby store to buy an ice pop, which he nibbled on as he headed upstairs.
“Why are you alone?” His father, Yu Fu, asked as he looked behind him. “Did you leave Little Yao outside?”
“He went back to Xuan City; he has work tomorrow morning,” Yu Le said as he changed his shoes at the door. “Where’s Mom?”
Yu Fu, wearing an apron and preparing to tidy up the kitchen, said, “Go inside. We’re unpacking gifts in the living room.”
The gifts were naturally bought by Lu Yao, with various large and small packages, and although Yu Le didn’t know what was inside, the wrapping indicated they weren’t cheap.
Seeing his mother in a good mood, Yu Le walked over with his ice cream and squatted in front of the pile of gifts. “What did we receive?”
Mother Yu replied, “I don’t know yet; I haven’t unpacked them.”
Yu Le asked, “Then why are you so happy?”
Mother Yu smiled and said, “I’m not happy about the gifts. I’m happy about the act of unpacking them. Don’t question it.”
“Oh.” Yu Le then withdrew his hand, which was about to open a box. He decided to leave it to his mother.
“Little Yao has left?” Mother Yu asked.
Yu Le replied, “Yes, he has work tomorrow.”
Mother Yu looked up at him. “What are your thoughts on this?”
Yu Le was confused. “What thoughts?”
Mother Yu said slowly, “The thoughts about matchmaking. I remember clearly that you said before that there’s no true love in matchmaking, and eight out of ten couples from matchmaking end up divorced.”
“…” Yu Le, with a thick skin, responded, “I’m the ninth pair.”
Mother Yu asked, “Hmm?”
“And besides, when we got together, it wasn’t through matchmaking, it was considered free love.”
After finishing his ice cream and tossing the wrapper and stick into the trash can, Yu Le stretched and got up. “Goodnight, Mrs. Bai. The little rascal is off to take a shower.”
The studio group chat had been lively recently due to the relocation. After showering, Yu Le lay on his bed and opened the chat to read messages.
Most of the messages discussed what to bring or leave behind, and how to organize the studio’s items.
Yu Le thought for a moment, got up, and took out his computer. He made a list, categorizing items as urgent or not, then shared the list in the chat for everyone to follow.
Yu Le: [I’m in Wucheng now. The studio will gather tomorrow morning. I’ll check if there are any omissions then.]
He also sent a lucky draw red envelope.
The chat was soon flooded with copied flattery messages like [The boss is a good person and will be prosperous all his life.]
Yu Le recalled a conversation about hugging the golden thigh on the plane earlier and couldn’t help but smile.
These people were quite flattering; after all, from another perspective, wasn’t he indeed prospering?
At this point, it would be impolite to forget whether a certain someone had landed.
Yu Le counted the time on his fingers. There should be about an hour left. He turned over on the bed, lying on his back, checking the news while occasionally glancing at the time.
At 10:30, he sent a message, but after yawning and waiting for nearly twenty minutes, there was still no reply.
Could it be that the phone was out of battery?
Yu Le squinted his tired eyes, turned over, and decided to try calling.
Just as he was about to tap the call log, the other side called, but it was a video call instead of a voice call.
Yu Le answered, and the video connected. The first thing he noticed was the dark background on Lu Yao’s side; the lighting was so dim that his face was not visible.
He propped up his head with a pillow and said, “It’s so dark. Did you return to a mine?”
Lu Yao turned on the car lights and said, “I’m in the underground parking lot. I was busy just now and didn’t have time to reply.”
“Got it.” Yu Le tilted his head, his face nestled into the pillow, looking sleepy yet with a bright and obedient gaze that made one’s heart soften.
He asked Lu Yao, “Did you pick up the person?”
Lu Yao answered, “Already sent them home.”
Yu Le asked, “And the gift?”
Lu Yao replied, “Received it. It’s in the car.”
Yu Le casually asked, “What kind of gift? Have you opened it? Do you like it?”
Lu Yao said, “I like it, but my opinion doesn’t matter. It’s for you. You have to like it.”
“Hmm?” Yu Le tilted his head in confusion, a tuft of hair sticking up. “How is it for me? What is it?”
Lu Yao asked, “Do you want to see?”
“Of course!” Yu Le said. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
Lu Yao turned the camera around.
Seeing a fluffy white bundle sitting obediently in the passenger seat, Yu Le’s eyes widened, and his head shot up in surprise and delight, as if his eyes could overflow with joy.
“Wow, this is so adorable!”
He was no longer sleepy. He quickly sat up on the bed, holding his phone close as if he wanted to immediately dive into the screen and hug the little Samoyed’s head and give it a thorough cuddle. “How old is it? Is it weaned?”
Lu Yao let him touch the puppy, which had a great texture and would even lick his palm. “A little over two months old. I heard this period is good for raising them; they become affectionate.”
Yu Le was envious. “Can you squeeze its paws for me? How does it feel?”
Lu Yao complied and gave a fair assessment. “Similar to yours, just shorter fingers.”
Yu Le: “…”
Might as well start learning sign language overnight.
He propped his chin and tilted his head, enviously watching Lu Yao on the other end as he scratched the puppy’s chin. “Mr. Lu, you did this on purpose, didn’t you? You knew I wouldn’t be able to get there for a few days, and you showed me the dog so early. You’re really testing my willpower.”
He couldn’t look any longer.
His eyes were glued to the screen, but thankfully, his rationality was still intact. If he continued looking, he might not be able to resist buying a plane ticket for the next morning.
Lu Yao protested, “Le Le, I just asked you earlier if you wanted me to tease you. You said not to.”
“If you’re going to keep a secret, you should keep it completely. Do you need me to teach you this? You already mentioned a gift—who wouldn’t be curious?”
Yu Le muttered complaints, then noticed the dog sticking its tongue out and smiling at him. His heart melted.
“What’s the little darling’s name? Does it have a name yet? Did you buy dog food and a dog bed for it? Don’t let the little one sleep on the floor on its first day in the new home.”
“Everything’s been bought. Don’t worry.”
Lu Yao removed the car key and got out of the car with the puppy. “The name hasn’t been decided yet. We can think of it slowly once you move in. There’s no rush.”
Yu Le was about to say that he hadn’t agreed to cohabitate, but Lu Yao, whether intentionally or not, kept the camera filled with adorable shots of the Samoyed being held.
Yu Le found it hard to resist the temptation of living with such a cute four-legged creature. After hesitating for a while, he ultimately couldn’t resist and nodded. “Alright, you take good care of it. I’ll be back in no more than three days.”
Lu Yao responded, and as he live-streamed the puppy, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, out of view of the camera.
The little guy was quite useful; it was worth driving miles in the middle of the night to pick it up.
