Ji Xu took a deep breath, and holding the urn in his arms managed to suppress his urge to deal with Cheng Yue.
The group of young women who had just exited the elevator quickly scattered when they saw the situation was not right.
Soon, the hallway was left with only a nervous Cheng Yue, who was hanging on to his heart, and the silent Ji Xu.
Nervous Cheng Yue had the habit of swallowing, but this time he had swallowed all his saliva and his throat was dry. He spoke carefully, almost like he was splitting his words.
“I… I really didn’t mean it.”
Ji Xu glanced at him with a furrowed brow, buttoned up his suit jacket, and walked toward the elevator.
Seeing that Ji Xu wasn’t saying anything, Cheng Yue hesitated for a moment and then followed him into the elevator, still holding his backpack. He truly hadn’t intended to tear Ji Xu’s clothes, but he didn’t expect to pull on Ji Xu’s shirt and end up sitting on the floor.
Cheng Yue thought Ji Xu was definitely very angry. If someone had publicly embarrassed him like this, he would have wanted to beat that person up.
Putting himself in Ji Xu’s shoes made Cheng Yue feel both scared and apologetic.
When Ji Xu entered the elevator and saw Cheng Yue staring at the floor, he called out helplessly from outside the elevator, “Come in.”
Hearing his voice, Cheng Yue instinctively took a step back, then quickly realized and entered the elevator.
Silence continued in the elevator until they reached the underground parking lot. Ji Xu was disinclined to talk, while Cheng Yue was repeatedly struggling with whether or not to apologize.
He debated whether to apologize now, feeling it would seem insincere since he hadn’t apologized earlier. But Cheng Yue knew he was at fault; he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Ji Xu pressed the car key, and the car beeped. He then opened the car door.
Seeing that Ji Xu was about to get in the car, Cheng Yue’s face turned red with embarrassment. He quickly said, “I’m sorry.”
“What?”
Ji Xu turned his head, unable to understand what Cheng Yue had just said. He frowned, trying to make out the words.
Seeing Ji Xu looking at him, Cheng Yue, a bit embarrassed, tilted his head and said quickly, “I said I’m sorry.”
This time, Ji Xu managed to understand, though it took a lot of effort to piece together the words from Cheng Yue’s quick speech.
Looking at Cheng Yue’s red face as he turned his head away, Ji Xu suddenly found the boy amusing and couldn’t help but tease, “What did you just say?”
“I said…”
Cheng Yue started to repeat himself, but halfway through, he noticed a smile on Ji Xu’s face and immediately realized. His irritation flared up, and he glared, “What’s with the sudden change of attitude today?”
Ji Xu raised an eyebrow, recognizing that Cheng Yue was indirectly insulting him for being hard of hearing. However, given how upset he was earlier, he now felt like laughing. He struggled to keep a straight face as he opened the car door.
“Stop dragging it out. We need to get your luggage.”
“What luggage?” Cheng Yue asked as he got into the car. Just as he closed the door, Ji Xu started the car.
“You’re coming to stay with me,” Ji Xu replied briefly.
“Stay with you?”
Cheng Yue was puzzled. “Why?”
Ji Xu glanced at him and then unbuttoned his suit jacket to reveal his torn shirt. He explained plainly, “Do you think my dad would accept having his clothes ripped by you?”
“It wasn’t intentional.” Cheng Yue, feeling embarrassed, touched his nose and then glanced at Ji Xu’s well-toned abs, awkwardly commenting, “Your abs look pretty good.”
Ji Xu expressionlessly nodded, “Flatterer.”
Cheng Yue looked again with curiosity and asked, “How did you get those? At the gym? I tried working out at the gym for weeks but didn’t get results.”
“Got them by talking,” Ji Xu said, looking at Cheng Yue’s flat stomach. “Just talk to them, and they’ll come out.”
Cheng Yue: “…”
When the car stopped in a neighborhood full of elderly people, Cheng Yue got out of the car and was immediately slapped on the arm by an old man, causing him to shout in surprise and jump away, only to realize the old man was Ji Shan.
“You kid…”
Ji Shan frowned and was about to slap Cheng Yue’s arm again. But seeing the big red handprint appearing on Cheng Yue’s fair skin, he stopped and worriedly touched it.
“How did this happen? I didn’t hit you that hard.”
“What?”
Cheng Yue lifted his arm to check. His skin was fair and sensitive, so even a slight touch left a mark. When he was a child, a gentle pinch from his mother had left a bruise, which led to a hospital visit. It turned out his skin was just sensitive and easily marked.
For Ji Shan, such a slap would be no big deal, but for Cheng Yue, it looked quite severe. It wasn’t extremely painful, just visually alarming.
Ji Xu also took a look and, seeing the swelling on Cheng Yue’s arm, asked with a frown, “Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Cheng Yue said quickly, waving his hand and pulling down the sleeve of his T-shirt to try to cover the red handprint.
“Let’s go upstairs and apply some medicine,” Ji Shan said, thinking that Cheng Yue was just embarrassed to admit it hurt. He urged Cheng Yue to walk towards the apartment.
Once they were upstairs, Ji Xu explained to his father that Cheng Yue would be staying with him.
Initially, Ji Shan was hesitant, concerned about Ji Xu’s lack of experience with kids and worried that he wouldn’t take good care of Cheng Yue. He was also worried that Ji Xu might anger Cheng Yue and drive him away. Ji Shan was well aware of the rules in his son’s home.
He himself wasn’t willing to visit Ji Xu’s impeccably clean apartment, which felt like a place where even breathing was a crime.
However, Ji Shan considered that Cheng Yue would probably be willing to live with Ji Xu since their ages were closer, making communication easier.
After thinking it over, he repeatedly warned Ji Xu, “Control yourself. Don’t spray disinfectant around Cheng Yue. If you must spray, don’t do it in front of him. It’ll hurt his pride.”
Ji Xu: “…”
He really hadn’t sprayed disinfectant on anyone.
After Ji Shan applied the medicine to Cheng Yue’s arm, Ji Xu had already packed Cheng Yue’s four suitcases.
As Ji Xu wheeled the suitcases outside, Ji Shan pulled Cheng Yue aside to the balcony and whispered, “Don’t be afraid of him. Ji Xu might seem cold, but he has a good heart. If he’s harsh with you, just apologize. He can’t stand seeing others apologize.”
Cheng Yue blinked, feeling that he wasn’t going to apologize. He still had his pride.
“Dad.” Ji Xu called from inside.
“Okay, coming.” Ji Shan responded and led Cheng Yue out the door.
Ji Xu drove straight to his apartment with Cheng Yue.
As they dragged the suitcases off the elevator and approached the door, Ji Xu’s phone rang.
He pulled out his phone and saw that it was Mu Jia calling.
This was a college friend of his who now worked as a journalist representing justice and was currently in a tough spot.
Cheng Yue leaned over to see the name and teasingly raised his eyebrows, “Is that your girlfriend?”
Ji Xu ignored him. Mu Jia wouldn’t call without a reason, so there was something important.
Ji Xu pointed to the door of his apartment, signaling Cheng Yue to stay there, and went to take the call.
Seeing that Ji Xu didn’t respond, Cheng Yue took it as tacit approval and, while not wanting to interrupt his call, looked around. The floor had three apartments, and although this one seemed nice, it couldn’t compare to where he used to live.
He grimaced, kicked the door with his foot, and made a face at Ji Xu’s back.
Unexpectedly, Ji Xu suddenly turned around.
Cheng Yue froze in place, sticking out his tongue.
Ji Xu ended the call and, ignoring Cheng Yue’s odd expression, instructed, “I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I need to go out. You wait for me here.”
“Got a date, huh? I understand.” Cheng Yue pretended to be understanding and patted Ji Xu’s arm.
“Listen up,” Ji Xu said, opening the door with his fingerprint.
“Take off your shoes when you enter. Also, take off your pants; you can’t sit on the sofa unless you’ve changed. Don’t touch the black cups when you drink water. There are glass cups in the cupboard; wash them yourself before drinking. If you’re hungry, there’s bread in the fridge, but you can only eat in the dining room, not in the living room or bedroom. Your room is on the left. It’s not fully organized yet, so push your suitcase in but don’t make a mess. And…”
Cheng Yue was left dumbfounded by the lengthy instructions. Before Ji Xu finished, he huffed in frustration, “From the moment I step into your place, I won’t even breathe. I’ll float in, not touching the floor or bumping into walls. When you come back, you’ll be scared out of your mind!”
Ji Xu found Cheng Yue’s remarks so amusing that he started laughing.
“Why are you laughing?” Cheng Yue sniffled, gripping the handle of his suitcase so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He felt that Ji Xu didn’t really want to take him in; he was just taking pity on him because he didn’t have parents, seeking some sense of moral superiority.
How hypocritical!
He didn’t want to live with Ji Xu either!
He could live just as well in America with all his friends!