Chapter 37 - There was no cat in today’s video call
Edited by Divetus
It was 8:00 p.m, and there weren’t many people outside.
Several students in school uniforms passed him holding snacks in their hands. The smell of food filled the air.
He took a sniff and suddenly missed the takeout that he had just thrown into the garbage can.
When he got into the taxi, the taxi driver looked up into the rear-view mirror and asked him, “Young man, where do you want to go?”
“Go…” Yu Yan got stuck.
He also didn’t know where he wanted to go. He had just felt a little sore after walking for a long time, and a taxi had also happened to pass by, so he had stopped it.
He thought about it and said, “Go to Bountiful Spring Mountain.”
The driver’s expression instantly grew strange.
“That’s too far, young man. It’ll take three or four hours.” He was about to say more but then bit his tongue. “Or… do you want to get another cab?”
Truthfully, he did like to go long distances, but this Bountiful Spring Mountain wasn’t just far away, it was also a cemetery. He was really reluctant to take this trip.
Yu Yan responded, “Then, you can drive as you like ba.”
Driver: “…” freeweb novel. com
Was this a movie?
Seeing that the driver had yet to move, Yu Yan recalled what he had said, and also thought that it was a bit ridiculous.
He opened his wallet and took out a note with an address on it. “Go here.”
The driver glanced at the address on the note and then hurriedly stepped on the accelerator to set off, fearing that Yu Yan would change his mind.
After getting out of the car, Yu Yan stood outside the two-story villa. He put his hands into his pockets and didn’t rush to go in.
There was a soft yellow light on the villa’s first floor; it looked very warm. Outside the villa, there was a small garden and a swing.
He just looked at the villa for nearly ten minute before turning to leave.
“Xiao Yan? Why are you here?”
The man behind him was dressed in a suit, carrying a briefcase in his hand, and his expression was slightly surprised.
Yu Yan froze. He retraced the steps he just took. “… Uncle.”
Just after the door was opened, a gentle female voice sounded. “Husband? Why did you come back so late today, did you work overtime again?”
Instead of taking off his shoes, Yu Minyang opened the shoe cabinet first, took out a pair of slippers, and put them beside Yu Yan’s feet. “En, there was an urgent case I needed to deal with… Is the food still hot?”
“It might be a bit cold now, but you have to make do with it and eat ba. You came back too late so our daughter even finished eating already.”
“Heat it up a bit ba.” Yu Minyang said, “Xiao Yan has come.”
“Xiao Yan?” There was the sound of footsteps, and a middle-aged woman poked her head out of the living room, still holding the TV remote control in her hand.
Yu Yan greeted her, “Hello Aunt.”
“Ah&#k2026; Hello.” She blinked a few times and then threw the remote control directly onto the sofa. “I’ll go warm up the food. There’s fish in the fridge. Xiao Yan, do you like it pan-fried or steamed?”
Yu Yan hurriedly said, “Don’t trouble yourself, I’ve already had dinner.”
“Then consider it accompanying Uncle as he eats.” Yu Minyang put his briefcase aside. “Yu Yan likes to eat fish pan-fried, so pan fry it.”
The meal was served at the table. Aunt Yu was very skillful, as the dishes were both colorful and fragrant. Yu Yan originally didn’t eat much of his dinner before, and now, he was greatly stimulated by the food in front of him.
Yu Minyang opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of chilled beer.
“Drink ma?”
Yu Yan hurriedly said, “Not drinking.”
Yu Minyang stuffed a bottle into his hand, and his palm immediately became cold.
“How come you had the time to come over today?” Yu Minyang picked up a piece of fish and asked, “You’re not doing that, what was it… streaming thing?”
Yu Yan couldn’t resist his enthusiasm. He sipped the beer, and the astringent taste immediately spread throughout his mouth.
“I asked for leave today.”
Yu Minyang had helped him look over his contract and knew that his monthly salary wasn’t low, so he didn’t mention money. He nodded. “If you’re tired, just rest. You should come over to Uncle’s place more often in the future. Even if you don’t want to live here, visiting relatives to see each other is also good. If I hadn’t just arrived, I’m afraid that you would’ve left earlier ba?”
Yu Yan shook his head. “… Of course not.”
After a few drinks, Yu Minyang’s cheeks turned red, and his voice grew louder. “You have to eat more. Look at you, you’re too thin and small. Your arms are so slender that you could probably compete with your cousin soon. How will you get a wife at this rate?”
Aunt Yu patted him. “Why are you talking nonsense? Xiao Yan isn’t even 20, what’s this about getting a wife? Don’t drink anymore, your alcohol tolerance isn’t great anyway… You also have to go to work tomorrow.”
“It’s rare for me to have a drink. Let me drink some more.”
“No way.”
Yu Yan quietly watched them on the side, one corner of his mouth unconsciously rising.
During the meal, Yu Minyang held onto Yu Yan and endlessly talked on about his domestic life for quite a while. From 9:00 p.m to a little past 10:00 p.m, he still didn’t plan on stopping.
From the events of ten years ago, to events ten years into the future, the topic of conversation had already arrived at this. “Xiao Yan, when you have a kid later, what are you going to name them?”
Yu Yan: “…”
Aunt Yu really couldn’t bear to watch this anymore. She grabbed the beer out of Yu Minyang’s hand and said, “Can we stop now? It’s already this late. Xiao Yan sits in front of the computer every day and finally got to take a rare vacation. He has to go back now so he can rest earlier.”
Yu Minyang responded, “What time is it? Oh, I didn’t pay attention to the time… I’m just happy that he’s here today. It’s the first time he’s come to see me at home.”
“I’ll definitely come more often in the future.” With that, Yu Yan stood up and said, “Then Uncle, I’ll head back first right now.”
“Wait.” Yu Minyang supported himself with the table, and his rate of speech slowed down by a lot. “Xiao Yan ah, I don’t know what’s bothering you.”
“But remember, if there’s something that you can’t solve, come to see Uncle. Your little trifles are nothing to us adults.”
He didn’t expect that the other party would notice. Yu Yan felt a warm feeling at the pit of his stomach, a feeling which made him feel flustered.
After a while, he nodded. “I know… Uncle.”
—
As soon as Yi Chen opened the door, he saw Yi Ran come out of the guest room with his suitcase.
He raised his eyebrow and said, “Take out the guest room’s trash on your way out.”
Yi Ran didn’t understand and asked, “On the way out? On the way out to where?”
Yi Chen’s gaze fell on the suitcase.
Yi Ran exclaimed, “Oh, this ah? Ge, have you forgotten? The day after tomorrow is Cheng Ge’s birthday. 30 years old, a whole number birthday, extremely important to commemorate it.”
Yi Chen went to his study. “So, what does that have to do with you packing up?”
Yi Ran said inexplicably, “His birthday will be held in Manyang ah! I’m packing up in advance so that I won’t be in a hurry tomorrow. I’ve read through the entire party’s event schedule, it’s super fun.”
Yi Chen’s response to him was the sound of a door closing.
Yi Chen sat in front of his computer, undid his tie, and opened WeChat.
Sure enough, the group he had muted had already chatted up to point of 99+ notifications.
Mo Nancheng: This one’s birthday party will be held in Manyang. The arrangements are as follows: Beach sunbathing, seafood feast, and nightclub. I’ll pay for the entire day’s worth of food, drink, shelter, and play. Already booked plane tickets for you guys on the day before the party. Everyone will meet up at the airport. Love you guys. [/kisskiss]
There were only ten people in the group. Everyone else sent over vomiting emoticons, but after they finished complaining, they all said they would arrive on time. Only Yi Chen didn’t respond.
Mo Nancheng: @1, bro, I’ll pick you up at your house. Don’t try to run away.
Yi Chen replied with a period to express that he understood. Then, he turned on the computer and went onto the livestream page.
After a long time of waiting for the livestream page to load, a sentence popped up.
[The anchor has gone back to Earth for the moment la. Come to see me next time ba~]
He frowned and refreshed the page, but the message still popped up.
[Why is Boss 1 here? The anchor asked for leave today ah.]
[Now that there are so few lines in the barrage, will I attract Boss 1’s attention?]
[It seems like it was the first time the anchor asked for leave. I saw that his complexion didn’t look very good during the livestream in the afternoon.]
[1: En, got it.]
At the end of this sentence, Yi Chen directly exited from the stream, and didn’t see the line in the barrage after his response.
[Why did I get the feeling of like “During a school period, other students came to find their boyfriend, and then a group of students shouted, ‘he asked for sick leave'”? That sort of thing…]
When Yu Yan returned home, the smell of beer still lingered at the tip of his nose. He had accidentally spilled some beer on his collar when he first took a sip. Although it had dried on the way home, the smell remained.
He grabbed his pajamas and turned into the bathroom.
When his cellphone rang, he was washing his hair, and his hands were still soapy.
He slightly lifted his head, squinted, read the video call request on the screen, and directly stopped his actions——
He forgot something!!!
He stepped out of the shower area while ripping his towel off the rail. He wiped away the shampoo suds on his forehead, not caring about the rest, and rushed to answer the call.
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you about my leave…”
Yi Chen narrowed his eyes. In a glance, he saw the young man’s collarbones.
He already visibly looked thin with his clothes on, not to mention right now, when he was naked. His collarbone was very prominent, and his throat had a small protruding Adam’s apple.
His skin was very pale. The water on his body hadn’t dried yet, and there was a thin red mark at his neck, as if he accidentally scratched himself when washing his hair.
Beyond his collarbone… He couldn’t see anything. The cellphone angle wasn’t good, as the majority of the video call screen showed the bathroom ceiling.
“No problem.” Yi Chen’s index finger lightly drummed on the table. “Why did you suddenly ask for leave?”
Yu Yan didn’t notice that anything was off. He raised his hand and fluffed up all the hair that had drooped down to his forehead. He answered truthfully, “I didn’t play very well today and I didn’t have a good feel for the matches. I was afraid that I would lose fans if I kept playing.”
Yi Chen let out an “en” and suddenly asked, “Aren’t you cold?”
Recently, cold winds had hit Jincheng, and the temperature had suddenly plummeted. The pedestrians on the street had already put on their winter clothes.
Yu Yan replied, “Not cold. Winter here is usually above 20 degrees.”
There weren’t many cities that met this condition. Yi Chen casually asked, “You’re in Manyang?”
“Yes.” Yu Yan asked, “Did you just get off work?”
“En. When I went to your stream, the viewers said that you weren’t feeling well.” Yi Chen’s gaze was cryptic, and it took him a long time to move his eyes away. “I think that your complexion actually looks pretty good.”
Yu Yan typically washed his hair with hot water, so now both his cheeks were already flushed and rosy.
Yu Yan didn’t speak. He had only just discovered that there was no cat in today’s video call.
The video call was pointed to the man’s chest. Yu Yan could see that the gray suit and white dress shirt that 1 wore today had a very similar style to what Yu Minyang wore.
But 1’s figure was obviously better than his uncle’s; the white shirt was stretched out, and the exposed part of his neck was particularly striking.
“I feel fine.” The shampoo suds then fell onto his eyelids, and only then did he realize that his image didn’t seem very respectable. “Did you want to play? After I finish my bath I can get on and carry you.”
Yi Chen answered, “Not playing. You have a rest ba.”
Yu Yan asked again, “Then, tomorrow night?”
“I won’t be on for the next two days.”
Yu Yan was stunned, and then let out a stupified “oh” before asking, “… Have you been really busy lately?”
“En.” Yi Chen laughed. “I have to travel somewhere.”
—
Juurensha: Ahhhh, Boss Yi will be in the same city as Yanyan!
Divi: Anyone think how suspicious Yi Chen was when he was calculating which cities had the weather condition that Yanyan had? He’s just like “mm it’s cold isn’t it?” to get yanyan to mention temperature?
Please check out and support the raws if you can!
And you guys can buy the published version here! Shipping was both cheap and fast!
Follow current nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om