You Wen turned his head and glared at him, finally feeling a bit unhappy: “I bought it!”
Fu Mingchuan’s brows relaxed a little: “It has already been given to me.”
You Wen refused: “Then I want it back.” He seemed to always want to take back gifts he had already given away.
Fu Mingchuan looked at You Wen disapprovingly: “That also requires my consent.”
You Wen was so angry with Fu Mingchuan that he didn’t want to reason with him, saying, “Do whatever you want,” but he didn’t immediately put the little wooden figure back.
When they got out of the car, Fu Mingchuan glanced at him and saw You Wen was about to put the little wooden figure back, and he said, “Keep it.”
You Wen didn’t look at him and put the little wooden figure back, no longer wearing the puffed-up expression from earlier: “I don’t want it.”
Fu Mingchuan’s expression paused for a moment, and he didn’t speak.
Chen Jiyu heard the commotion and came out to find You Wen. You Wen patiently explained everything again and took out his phone to show Chen Jiyu. Chen Jiyu said, “You still need to buy a car, so you can charge it anytime. Tomorrow, Mom will take you to buy one.”
You Wen felt a bit uncomfortable. Now that he had broken up with Fu Mingchuan, Chen Jiyu calling herself “Mom” in front of Fu Mingchuan made it seem like he was entangled in something. So he glanced at Fu Mingchuan and found that Fu Mingchuan was also looking at him.
Chen Jiyu didn’t notice the undercurrents between the two and kept trying to persuade You Wen. You Wen refused: “No need, I just forgot to charge my phone at school. I won’t forget again.”
However, Chen Jiyu was stubborn and personally went to pick out a car worth over four hundred thousand for You Wen the next day.
There were many good cars in the garage at home, but even if she gave one to You Wen, he wouldn’t want it. She didn’t want to break You Wen’s comfort zone, but she also didn’t want him to suffer by squeezing onto the subway every day.
You Wen did listen to her and drove for two days, but the heavy traffic made him late every day. To avoid the traffic, he had to leave forty minutes early, then spend the day coaxing little kids, exhausting himself every day.
After persevering for half a month, You Wen finally fell ill. Chen Jiyu took care of him for a day at home before she had to leave for a charity conference in Chenzhou, which she was hosting. She would be gone for three days.
Before leaving, it wasn’t her comforting You Wen, but rather, You Wen who reassured her, telling her not to worry and that Uncle Hou would take good care of him.
Hou Cong, standing nearby, swore that he would look after You Wen well, and he did. He took great care of him, except that he tended to indulge him—when the doctor advised against consuming too many sweets, You Wen would pout and act cute, and Hou Cong would end up giving him an extra piece.
Late at night, You Wen kept experiencing recurring fevers. His body felt heavy, yet his mind was remarkably clear. He knew he should get up to take some medicine or perhaps go to the hospital for a blood test, but he simply lay there, letting his eyelids droop until they could no longer stay open.
You Wen had a long dream, dreaming of his mother, who read fairy tales to young You Wen while lying in a hospital bed. The dark witch’s background was actually quite pitiful; after death, she would turn into a spirit and return to her family.
Scenes flashed by like a carousel, and he found himself dreaming of the first time he met Fu Mingchuan. At that time, he was in his sophomore year of college, and You Fan had taken him to a banquet hosted by the Fu family. Fu Mingchuan was already making a name for himself in the business world, attracting many who were eager to curry favor with him. However, he seemed to dislike being flattered, choosing instead to smoke alone on the balcony.
You Wen, hiding in the shadows, watched Fu Mingchuan smoke half a cigarette before the flutter in his heart finally calmed. He spoke up, “Do you find them boring too?”
Startled to realize someone else was there, Fu Mingchuan’s expression turned unfriendly. “How long have you been here?”
You Wen could only hear his own heart pounding. “I’ve been here since you arrived.” Then, in his usual forward manner, he asked, “Can you teach me how to smoke?”
Fu Mingchuan stubbed out the cigarette. “Kids shouldn’t smoke.”
“Oh,” You Wen responded, “I’m 20. How about you?” Then he asked for Fu Mingchuan’s name.
But Fu Mingchuan didn’t answer any of his questions. “Who did you come here with?”
You Wen mentioned You Fan’s name, and after a moment, Fu Mingchuan seemed to recall who he was. “He’s in the garden,” he said, clearly intending to dismiss him.
You Wen didn’t catch on and asked for Fu Mingchuan’s WeChat. Fu Mingchuan claimed he didn’t use WeChat, so You Wen asked, “Then give me your number.”
Fu Mingchuan did give him a number, but when You Wen called, the voice on the other end wasn’t his. He never tried calling again.
After that encounter, the next time they met, before ending up in bed together, was at the horse track.
You Wen had gone there with some classmates and spotted Fu Mingchuan racing horses. He was completely mesmerized, having never seen anyone look so good, or riding a horse so elegantly.
That day, You Wen didn’t leave with his classmates. Instead, he stayed at the stables, waiting for Fu Mingchuan to finish socializing.
At the time, Chen An was also with Fu Mingchuan, but You Wen completely ignored him. He ran over to Fu Mingchuan, beaming up at him like a little sun. “Fu Mingchuan, you looked so cool riding that horse today!”
“Do you come here often?”
“Can you teach me how to ride?”
“Haven’t you eaten yet? Let’s go eat together, okay?”
It took Fu Mingchuan a moment to remember who he was. He didn’t ask how You Wen knew his name and only said, “You’re the kid from the You family, right?”
You Wen almost nodded his head off, “Yes, yes, I’m You Wen. My name is You Wen.”
“I’m so hungry. Where are you going to eat? I want to join you.”
He was a strange young man, hard to shake off. In the end, You Wen really did follow Fu Mingchuan to dinner and even insisted that Fu Mingchuan come to the horse track the following weekend to teach him how to ride.
At the time, Fu Mingchuan just saw him as a troublesome kid and didn’t agree to teach him, but You Wen actually showed up at the stables the next week. By coincidence, Fu Mingchuan had business there as well, and the two ran into each other again.
Unable to resist You Wen’s persistence, Fu Mingchuan really took him for a couple of laps. You Wen moved around in his arms, and by the end of the second lap, Fu Mingchuan immediately ended the lesson and went to the shower. You Wen came to his shower room naked and asked if there was shampoo.
After showering, You Wen clung to Fu Mingchuan, wanting him to take him home. You Wen didn’t remember the details at that time, but he remembered they kissed in the car, and then the car went to a hotel, where things got chaotic and they ended up in bed together.
At that time, You Wen thought they were dating. Fu Mingchuan settled him in the Shanshui Residence and would appear there at regular times. Most of the time, they spent together in bed.
You Wen liked everything in the kitchen and everything about little kids and small animals. Whenever Fu Mingchuan came, he always took good care of him.
But then, when Taiji ran into trouble, You Fan wanted him to enter into an arranged marriage.
That night, You Wen complained to Fu Mingchuan, saying that his father wanted him to marry, but he definitely wouldn’t agree to it.
Fu Mingchuan didn’t react at all.
After listening to You Wen’s complaints for a while, Fu Mingchuan said, “If you don’t want to get married, that’s fine. I’ll take care of it for you.”
Sitting on Fu Mingchuan’s lap, You Wen retorted, “Then don’t you want to marry into our family?”
What did Fu Mingchuan say back then? He said, “I’ll think about it.”
At that moment, You Wen suddenly realized that what “being together” meant for Fu Mingchuan was different from what it meant for him. For a long time, he suspected that Fu Mingchuan was only with him to satisfy physical desires, but he couldn’t face that reality. It wasn’t until Fu Mingchuan agreed to the marriage arrangement that all his worries dissipated.
After the engagement, Fu Mingchuan spent more time with him and made more demands that You Wen rarely carried out.
In the end, Fu Mingchuan had Chen An notify him to end the relationship.
You Wen, in a daze, dreamt of many past events. When he opened his eyes, he saw Fu Mingchuan leaning over to touch his forehead. You Wen stared blankly at Fu Mingchuan, and tears suddenly flowed down.
Fu Mingchuan rubbed his thumb against the corner of his eye, the tears wetting his fingers. He asked softly, “Did you have a nightmare?”
Saying this, he reached under You Wen’s neck to help him sit up, propping him up with two large pillows behind him: “Alright, don’t cry. I’m here.”
You Wen pushed his hand away, not letting him get close, casually wiping his tears with the back of his hand, his voice hoarse: “It’s fine, I just had a bad dream.”
Fu Mingchuan handed him warm water: “Was I mean to you in the dream?” Otherwise, what could have made You Wen cry?
However, if You Wen answered that he was, he wouldn’t admit it, because he believed he had taken great care of You Wen while they were together.
You Wen almost spilled the water in his hand, seeing that Fu Mingchuan was seriously asking and waiting for his answer, he had to say: “No, I dreamt about when we first met.”
Fu Mingchuan thought back to how they met. He didn’t know how other people fell in love, but when You Wen showed up naked in his shower stall, trying to seduce him, he did feel a spark. You Wen hadn’t shown any reluctance at the time, so he didn’t see what there was to cry about.
“What exactly did you dream about?”
You Wen felt a bit overwhelmed by his gaze and had to pretend to be relaxed: “It’s nothing, just a bit regretful about meeting you.”
“”If I could go back now, I definitely wouldn’t fall for you again.”
It took Fu Mingchuan five seconds before he nodded. “You’ve slept for a whole day and night. Get up and eat something, then take a walk in the garden.” As usual, he knew how to give orders.
At the dining table, You Wen didn’t see Fu Mingchuan, but he heard from Uncle Hou that Fu Mingchuan had taken care of him for a day and a night. You Wen was a bit surprised, but it also reminded him of the only time he had a cold during the four years he was with Fu Mingchuan.
At first, he sneezed and immediately sent Fu Mingchuan a WeChat message saying he had sneezed.
An hour later, he sent Fu Mingchuan another message saying he had caught a cold.
Fu Mingchuan replied that he had his assistant order cold medicine for takeout and reminded him to open the door for the delivery person.
Over the next hour, You Wen called Fu Mingchuan eight times, asking him to come home. When Fu Mingchuan finally returned, You Wen, wrapped in a blanket, directed him around, asking for water one moment, and needing help to the bathroom the next. Fu Mingchuan was always patient and never lost his temper.
Actually, he had never lost his temper with You Wen, always doing his best to fulfill his every reasonable and unreasonable demand.
Thinking about it now, maybe Fu Mingchuan wasn’t that terrible after all.
But still, it was better not to fall for him again.
If you really loved someone, how could you never get angry at them? Only without feelings could one tolerate everything about the other.
Perhaps because he was sick and not in high spirits, Hou Cong took him to the garden to see the peacocks raised by Chen Jiyu.
You Wen held food in his hand to lure the peacocks to eat from him. Hou Cong said, “This peacock was brought back specially by Madam after you said you liked it. It has been waiting for you to come back to see it.”
You Wen turned to look at Hou Cong; he didn’t know about this.
Hou Cong threw a handful of food into the bushes: “Madam actually hopes you and the young master can be together. The young master is too lonely alone.”
You Wen chuckled, then suddenly looked back, like how he used to look up at Fu Mingchuan’s study window in the courtyard. Whether Fu Mingchuan wanted it or not, he would always stand outside the window and call him over to talk.
Unexpectedly, his eyes met Fu Mingchuan’s, causing his heart to skip a beat, and he quickly looked away.
“He’s not lonely. There are always a lot of people around him.”
Hou Cong asked, “But have you ever seen him get close to anyone?”
You Wen thought for a moment and realized that Fu Mingchuan seemed to only have business partners and no real friends.
“The young master saw several psychologists with Madam when he was young, changing many doctors over the years. Each doctor tried to help him establish close relationships with others, but all failed.”
Afterward, Hou Cong said a lot, though it was unclear whether You Wen was listening. In the end, You Wen just asked if someone had taken care of his leave.
Hou Cong said that Fu Mingchuan had taken care of it for him.
After hearing this, You Wen worriedly said, “I wonder if the little kids miss me.”
In the evening, he received a video from the little kids, each asking him when he would return to school. You Wen’s heart melted, and he called back the loudest little kid to explain that he would return tomorrow.
When Fu Mingchuan came downstairs, he ran into You Wen, who was gently coaxing someone in a childlike tone. Seeing him, Fu Mingchuan stepped aside, and as they passed each other, You Wen suddenly stopped and turned to ask him, “Are you leaving?”
Fu Mingchuan paused and replied, “I have something to do outside. I’ll be back later.”
You Wen frowned: “Auntie said you rarely stay at home.”
Fu Mingchuan’s dark gaze looked at You Wen, naturally understanding what You Wen meant, but he said, “This is my home.”
You Wen ignored him and turned to leave.
However, Fu Mingchuan didn’t end up taking care of his business because, halfway there, Hou Cong called to ask if he could come back. Someone had damaged the cables in the neighborhood, causing a power outage. He had knocked on You Wen’s door multiple times with no response, and the door wouldn’t open. He wanted Fu Mingchuan to check on him.
On the way back, Fu Mingchuan said, “Drive faster,” three times.
When they arrived home, the living room was filled with everything that could provide light, even the scented candles used for festive decorations were brought out. He walked through the dim living room and dark hallway to You Wen’s room, first politely knocking on the door: “Naonao, open the door.”
He called out You Wen’s nickname.
There was no response from inside the room. Hou Cong had already prepared tools to break the door but had waited for Fu Mingchuan to return before daring to act.
Fu Mingchuan took the tools, knocked on the door again, and then violently broke it down. Hou Cong initially wanted to go in but was stopped by Fu Mingchuan. He turned around and closed the already broken door, then stepped into the darkness.
“Naonao?” Fu Mingchuan called out You Wen’s nickname again.
With the faint moonlight, Fu Mingchuan didn’t see anyone in the room. He turned to walk towards the bathroom, and sure enough, the door was closed. He raised his hand to press down on the doorknob, and just like before, You Wen never locked the bathroom door.
Fu Mingchuan fumbled in his pocket to turn on his phone’s flashlight but found he had forgotten where he left his phone. However, even without a light source, he could hear You Wen’s faint breathing. He groped his way over and soon felt You Wen’s toes with his own.
Fu Mingchuan squatted down and called out softly to You Wen: “Naonao?” He reached out to touch the person sitting on the floor and found You Wen was not wearing clothes, his body felt as if it had been soaked in cold water, freezing his hand.
Fu Mingchuan immediately raised his hand to feel You Wen’s trembling body and then pulled him: “Get up!”
You Wen pushed his hand away, his voice hoarse and scared: “Leave me alone!”
Fu Mingchuan suppressed the anger in his heart and went to feel You Wen’s forehead, and sure enough, he was burning up again.
You Wen had always been afraid of the dark. When he first moved to Shanshui Residence, Fu Mingchuan would turn off the lights to sleep at night, and You Wen would be scared and couldn’t fall asleep.
Back then, their intimate moments were frequent. Even though You Wen would be exhausted afterward, he was often found awake in the middle of the night. When Fu Mingchuan asked him, he would say he was afraid of the dark.
Later, Fu Mingchuan turned on a night light in the room, and You Wen’s sleep quality gradually improved.
“It’s okay, don’t be afraid. I’ll take you out of here.” Fu Mingchuan found a towel based on You Wen’s usual habits, wrapped him in it, and carried him out despite his struggles.
In the darkness, Fu Mingchuan stumbled over something and almost fell. The person in his arms clung tightly to his neck, and the coldness of You Wen’s body made him feel chilly as well. He patted You Wen’s back comfortingly, “It’s alright.”
You Wen tried to move, his cheek brushing against Fu Mingchuan’s earlobe in the darkness. Fu Mingchuan pressed his hand firmly on You Wen’s back.
After placing him on the bed, Fu Mingchuan was about to get some medicine. As soon as he let go, You Wen grabbed him again. “I’ll get you some medicine,” he said.
You Wen refused to let go, so Fu Mingchuan had to hold him while looking for the medicine. Due to the tugging, the towel covering You Wen’s body only shielded half of him, and when Fu Mingchuan found the medicine and tried to adjust his position, he touched You Wen’s smooth skin.
The person in his arms trembled and moved slightly, trying to distance himself from Fu Mingchuan’s hand, unconsciously pressing against him, quickly realizing Fu Mingchuan’s unusual reaction, and stiffened in his embrace.
Fu Mingchuan set him back on the bed. This time, You Wen didn’t resist but obediently lay down. The next second, he reached out as if searching for Fu Mingchuan, who caught his hand and said, “Open your mouth.”
Before You Wen understood what he was doing, the medicine was placed near his lips, followed by some water.
You Wen drank from Fu Mingchuan’s hand and swallowed the medicine. When Fu Mingchuan asked if it tasted bitter, You Wen glanced at him in the moonlight and said, “No.”
Fu Mingchuan remembered that You Wen used to say even a vitamin was bitter and insisted he comfort him, but now he said it wasn’t bitter; he had really changed.
You Wen wanted Fu Mingchuan to leave but didn’t dare to let him go, so he ignored him, turned over to pull the blanket, trying to wrap himself up. The moonlight spilled over his body, and the curve of his back facing Fu Mingchuan made his breathing a bit heavier.
Before You Wen could completely cover himself, a pair of strong hands rested on his slender waist. Fu Mingchuan’s warm breath hit his back, and his earlobe was gently bitten, as if this person was speaking from his soul: “Naonao.”
Tears fell from You Wen’s eyes instantly. The next moment, Fu Mingchuan pressed him into the soft mattress.
