A fine drizzle began to fall, and You Wen sat on the bench by the roadside without noticing. It wasn’t until he saw passersby starting to run that he realized his clothes and hair were soaked by the rain.
You Wen didn’t rush to leave, he sat in the rain for a while longer, lost in thought. When he finally noticed the strange looks from passersby, he stood up and walked towards home with dragging footsteps.
He had come by car, so he walked for an hour in the rain before reaching home. You Shi was frightened when she saw him and quickly pulled him to take a hot shower. After You Wen finished showering, she personally dried his hair and didn’t dare to relax until he was lying in bed.
You Wen closed his eyes tightly, seemingly exhausted. You Shi stayed with him for a while longer before going downstairs to call Fu Mingchuan.
She called many times, but no one answered. As she continued to call, You Shi became angry, blaming Fu Mingchuan for being ungrateful. Even if he had something to do, he couldn’t even make a phone call. What was the use of such a man?
As expected, You Wen had a fever in the latter half of the night. After the family doctor left, You Shi entered the room and told him to take the medicine. When she touched his face, her hand was dampened, she didn’t know if it was sweat or tears. She wanted to say something more but couldn’t say anything.
In her desperation, You Shi took You Wen’s phone to call Fu Mingchuan. Looking at the call log, she saw that You Wen hadn’t made a single call to Fu Mingchuan all day. All the call records were from Fu Mingchuan, and You Wen had answered every one.
You Shi sighed. Just as she was about to make the call, she heard You Wen’s voice, “Auntie, don’t call him.”
So he hadn’t been asleep after all.
You Shi didn’t want to speak for Fu Mingchuan, but for You Wen’s sake, she still said, “I called him many times before, but he didn’t answer. Maybe he has something to do.”
“I also asked someone to contact the people around him, they said they would get back to me after have some news.”
After a long time, You Wen said with a slight sob in his voice, “Why is he always like this?”
Doing whatever he wants, as if he could treat him however he pleased.
You Shi had a lot to say but couldn’t say it. In fact, Chen An had called earlier and said that Fu Mingchuan had left for Germany on Friday, but now he was out of contact.
Chen An didn’t dare to tell You Wen, afraid that You Wen would be anxious and Fu Mingchuan would be angry. When You Wen sent a message asking about Fu Mingchuan, he said that they were having a very important meeting in another city and Fu Mingchuan was not available to answer the phone.
The next day, You Shi gave the same explanation as Chen An.
It wasn’t until Monday morning that You Wen finally received a call from Fu Mingchuan, but he didn’t answer it and went to school as if nothing had happened.
Fu Mingchuan made a few more calls, and seeing that he didn’t answer any of them, he stopped calling.
You Wen didn’t listen carefully in class and didn’t participate in the interaction with the professor. In the end, he was called out, and his answer was ambiguous. His good friend at school, Andrei, tried to tell him the answer, and in the end, both of them were asked to stay behind by the professor for a talk.
It was already dark when they left the school. Andrei offered to take him home, but You Wen refused, saying that the family driver would come to pick him up.
After Andrei left, You Wen looked around for the family car. He didn’t find the car, but saw Fu Mingchuan standing at the intersection.
You Wen stood still, his dark grape-like eyes wide open, looking at Fu Mingchuan. He suddenly felt a bit discouraged.
He still couldn’t bear to ignore him.
Fu Mingchuan quickly walked towards him. As soon as he got close, he touched his forehead and asked in a low voice, “Auntie said you had a fever, are you better now?”
You Wen looked straight at Fu Mingchuan. “I got better yesterday.”
“I’m sorry, Naonao, I had something to do over the weekend,” Fu Mingchuan said.
You Wen slowly looked away and said with a blank expression, “It’s okay.”
The family car drove over. You Wen moved his feet, wanting to get in the car and tell Fu Mingchuan to go back to the hotel, but his mouth seemed to be glued shut, unable to utter a single word.
He felt so wronged.
He was afraid that tears would fall as soon as he opened his mouth and Fu Mingchuan would laugh at him.
Fu Mingchuan blocked his way and tried to pull You Wen’s arm, but You Wen avoided him. He said, “I drove here, I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
Fu Mingchuan didn’t say he would “send” him, afraid that if he did, it would really become just sending him.
You Wen dodged him. “I’m going home, you don’t have to send me.”
As soon as he spoke, tears really did fall. When Fu Mingchuan approached him, he threw everything in his hands at him. Books fell all over the ground. Fu Mingchuan let him hit him and finally wrapped him in his trench coat, hiding him, letting him cry against his chest, patting his back to let him calm down little by little. “I’m sorry, Naonao, I’m late.”
When You Wen finally calmed down, Fu Mingchuan took his hand and asked him to touch his face: “Naonao, touch it.”
You Wen refused and tried to pull his hand back, but Fu Mingchuan’s grip was too strong. He was forced to touch Fu Mingchuan’s face, and then guided to touch his body. You Wen was exasperated: “Fu Mingchuan, we are in public!”
Fu Mingchuan didn’t give You Wen any chance to escape. After confirming that You Wen understood he was fine, he said, “Naonao, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry or be afraid.”
He didn’t explain the process, but first told him the result.
You Wen stared at him, speechless, his face gradually turning pale. He finally understood that Fu Mingchuan wasn’t lying on Friday; he did come to see him, but something unexpected happened.
Everyone hid it from him, even You Shi.
His tears flowed uncontrollably again.
While Fu Mingchuan wiped them away, he spoke lightly, downplaying the seriousness of it all. “The plane hit severe cold weather and had to make an emergency landing in Carlo. There was no signal there, so I took a boat to Haili and then a connecting flight, which is why I arrived late.”
He didn’t mention that You Wen didn’t answer his call before he boarded the plane. He also didn’t want You Wen to worry, so he didn’t say anything beforehand. He came to the school gate as soon as he got off the plane, wanting You Wen to see him as soon as possible.
After listening, You Wen stared at him with his wet puppy-dog eyes, touching him all over. Even though he had already confirmed it, he still asked with a crying voice, “Then are you okay?”
Fu Mingchuan stood still and let him touch him: “I’m fine.”
After a while, he said again: “I was just a little worried about you.”
On Saturday, he was forced to stay on Carlo Island. At night, he always worried about You Wen, afraid that You Wen would be unhappy because he couldn’t contact him, and also afraid that Chen An would tell You Wen the truth and scare him.
The nose of the plane was hit by hail, and at that time, he was only one step away from death. What he thought about was what You Wen should do.
He didn’t fall asleep until late that night. He sat on the balcony and watched the wind and rain outside. He probably never thought that one day he would fall into such a situation, so troubled by love.
And at the beginning, he actually thought that there was nothing he couldn’t let go of.
If he had known this, he shouldn’t have insisted on separating and made You Wen so sad. He also shouldn’t have just sent money when You Fan had an accident. He should have brought the little puppy home. He regretted it countless times.
Being stared at by You Wen, Fu Mingchuan ignored the serious part and told him in detail everything he had encountered in the past few days. Only when You Wen was completely relieved did he pick up all of You Wen’s books, put them in his backpack, and carry it for him: “I definitely won’t be late next week, okay?”
You Wen didn’t say anything and was obediently led by Fu Mingchuan to the car. It was a car he had never seen before. He didn’t know why Fu Mingchuan had so many cars even in a foreign country.
“I was caught in the rain on Saturday and had a fever.” You Wen’s words were like accusations and coquetry, and then he quickly said, “But I got better yesterday.”
Still didn’t want Fu Mingchuan to worry.
“It rains a lot here. Didn’t the driver take you?” He still couldn’t help but inquire about You Shi’s family affairs. “Does your family have enough cars and drivers? Should I arrange a separate driver for you?”
You Wen kicked his feet like a child: “I didn’t want the driver to take me, and it was a low-carbon activity organized by the professor. Everyone took the subway.”
Fu Mingchuan frowned and reprimanded You Wen in the gentlest tone possible: “Then you should buy an umbrella. Don’t do this next time.”
You Wen didn’t say anything. He wasn’t stupid, of course he knew to use an umbrella when it rained.
Fu Mingchuan drove You Wen back to the hotel. He originally brought some gifts for You Wen, but the plane didn’t arrive, so the gifts didn’t arrive either.
You Wen didn’t care much about the gifts and didn’t even ask what they were: “It’s good that you’re here, you don’t need to bring gifts.”
After speaking, he wanted to say something but held back.
The two had dinner in the room because You Wen didn’t want to go out again.
After dinner, Fu Mingchuan held a work meeting. When he wanted to take You Wen to take a bath together, he saw that You Wen, who was lying on the bed reading a book, had fallen asleep with his face on the book.
Fu Mingchuan sat by the bed and watched for a while, then took out a jade pendant from his pocket and carefully hung it around You Wen’s neck.
The jade pendant was made of soft jade that he asked a senior monk to bless. Everyone said it was very effective and could ensure safety. He always thought that You Wen was too far away and he couldn’t see him all the time, so he asked for one. After getting it, the jade never left his side.
After putting on the jade pendant, Fu Mingchuan held You Wen’s head and wanted him to get into the quilt to sleep, but soon You Wen woke up, opened his eyes to look at him, as if he was still in a dream, pursed his lips, not very happy.
Fu Mingchuan wrapped him in the quilt and coaxed him: “Go to sleep.”
You Wen looked at him with wide eyes and said, “I just dreamed that your plane had an accident.”
“It’s all a dream, nothing will happen.” He reasoned with You Wen again, “The accident rate of air crashes is only one in five million.”
You Wen was very unreasonable: “Is there something wrong with your plane?”
Fu Mingchuan looked at You Wen silently and saw him turn over, not looking at him, his voice muffled: “Don’t come so often in the future, I have a lot of things to do, no time to see you.”
Not hearing Fu Mingchuan’s voice, he deliberately found fault: “What did you bring me? It’s poking me.”
But his hand kept touching the jade pendant, seemingly liking it very much.
Fu Mingchuan explained the origin of the jade pendant and said, “You need to make a return offering for this jade pendant. When you return to China, let’s go make a return offering together, okay?”
You Wen never knew that Fu Mingchuan believed in these things, and couldn’t imagine Fu Mingchuan kneeling in front of Buddha. The last trace of discomfort in his heart was smoothed over, and he said somewhat arrogantly, “Let’s see, if I have time, I’ll go with you.”
Fu Mingchuan touched his head, thinking how cute he was. He said, “I just finished a meeting and assigned work. I won’t go back in the next few days. I’ll stay here with you.”
Although You Wen’s fever had subsided, he still had a cough. Fu Mingchuan wasn’t at ease with such a long distance between them.
You Wen immediately knelt up and looked at him, asking repeatedly, “Is it really okay? Are you sure it’s okay?” Then he became distressed, “But we have so many group meetings.”
As he spoke, he fell back and leaned against Fu Mingchuan’s arms. Fu Mingchuan smiled: “It’s okay. I made some preparations before coming. I originally wanted to spend some time with you.”
Probably because he was happy, You Wen kissed Fu Mingchuan’s lips and asked him, “Do you want to?”
Fu Mingchuan touched his face and his eyes: “No, if you’re tired, just sleep for a while.”
You Wen could fall asleep while he was having a meeting, probably because he hadn’t slept well these past few days. Fu Mingchuan couldn’t bear to toss him anymore.
You Wen buried his face in Fu Mingchuan’s arms again and mumbled, “I was so angry last night that I couldn’t sleep all night.”
Fu Mingchuan knew this was the case, but he only regained communication this morning, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t let You Wen worry like this: “Naonao, you can try to trust me more. As long as I’m still alive, I will definitely come to see you.”
You Wen covered his mouth: “Don’t talk nonsense.” Then he said, “Anyway, don’t come so often in the future.”
Fu Mingchuan didn’t refute anymore, not wanting You Wen to be unhappy about this again.
A few days later, when he was about to leave, You Wen insisted on sending him to the airport. He didn’t say anything, but his actions showed his reluctance, so much so that Fu Mingchuan considered several times whether to reschedule and leave another day.
Finally, You Wen pushed him away on his own initiative: “Go quickly, or you’ll be late.”
Fu Mingchuan didn’t hesitate this time, because if he didn’t leave now, he really wouldn’t be able to leave: “I’ll come see you another day. Be good and remember to call me if you have anything.” He obeyed You Wen’s wishes and didn’t say he would come next week.
But it was clearly You Wen’s own wish, yet he wasn’t very happy.
After Fu Mingchuan left, You Wen sat alone at the airport for a long time. After returning home, he was still depressed. You Shi couldn’t stand seeing him like that, so he assigned him a task, asking him to mow the lawn in the yard.
You Wen was feeling bored and indeed needed to do something, so he really went to mow the lawn and even sent Fu Mingchuan a photo of the mowed lawn.
Ten hours later, Fu Mingchuan replied to the message: This kind of machine can get stuck on stones and hurt people. Let someone else do it next time.
The double standard was clear.
After a while, Fu Mingchuan sent a video call, showing him a solar-powered intelligent lawnmower that didn’t require manual operation, was on standby 24 hours a day, and automatically monitored the growth of the lawn, which was very suitable for lazy people at home.
You Wen was speechless. Why did Fu Mingchuan always think that You Shi didn’t take good care of him, as if he had done something extraordinary?
You Wen: “When I was at home, my dad used to ask me to mow the lawn when he found me annoying. It’s not like I can’t do anything.”
After saying this, he realized that when he was with Fu Mingchuan before, Fu Mingchuan really didn’t let him do anything that might be dangerous. Everything he did was screened by Fu Mingchuan. If there was something he wanted to do but couldn’t do well, Fu Mingchuan would also take the initiative to help him do it.
“You can have someone send the lawnmower over. I’ll try it out.” You Wen changed his tune.
Fu Mingchuan agreed, and the two talked for another twenty minutes without hanging up the video. It wasn’t until You Shi called You Wen for breakfast that he reluctantly hung up the video call.
