Yu Feng didn’t say anything; he just stood there quietly. Su An watched him for a few seconds before lifting the blanket, making a move to get out of bed. Seeing this, Yu Feng reacted, stepping forward to support Su An’s body. “Where are you going?”
Su An lowered his head, stole a glance at him, and replied, “I need to use the bathroom.”
Yu Feng directly scooped him up in a princess carry. As he did, he mentally weighed Su An—the boy was noticeably lighter again. After one bout of illness, the weight Yu Feng had painstakingly helped him gain had vanished overnight. Yu Feng’s brow furrowed.
Su An reached out and lightly pressed his thumb against the furrow between Yu Feng’s brows, his lips curving upward. Clearly, he cares a lot. Seeing him just standing there holding him without moving, Su An couldn’t help but urge, “Let’s go.”
Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Yu Feng offered a faint threat: “Don’t you dare get sick again.”
Su An draped his arms around Yu Feng’s neck, leaning his face close to the man’s ear, his breath soft as he whispered, “Then you’ll have to take good care of me.”
Yu Feng had no defense against him. He gave Su An’s waist a light squeeze as a small punishment.
Upon reaching the bathroom door, Yu Feng didn’t stop; he carried Su An right inside. This time, it was Su An’s turn to struggle. “Put me down, I can walk by myself.”
Yu Feng reverted to his rogue-like demeanor. He smiled provocatively, asking knowingly, “You don’t need my help?”
“I don’t! I don’t! Get out!” Su An watched Yu Feng’s sudden “face-swap”—whenever the man wanted to tease him, he turned into a total scoundrel.
Yu Feng’s collar had been tugged into a mess; during the struggle, a button had actually popped off and flown across the room, giving the man a distinctly rakish air. Su An was suddenly reminded of how they looked when they first met. His face flushed red. The moment Yu Feng set him down, Su An pushed him out, slammed the door, and locked it in one fluid motion.
Locked out, Yu Feng gave the door handle a twist. Finding it barred, he gave up. He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, head bowed, his lips curving into a subtle, mysterious arc.
When Tong Jiu pushed open the ward door and walked in, this was the terrifying sight that greeted him: a disheveled Yu Feng with an unbuttoned collar, leaning against the wall with his head down, smiling eerily. Hearing the noise at the door, Yu Feng lifted his eyelids, his gaze turning cold even as the smile hadn’t fully faded.
In Tong Jiu’s eyes, Yu Feng looked exactly like a suspect who had just walked out of a crime scene. He held up the fruit basket he brought to shield his head, avoiding Yu Feng’s line of sight. “I’m here to see An’an!”
“Come in.” Yu Feng didn’t understand why Tong Jiu looked at him like he was a ghost, but he didn’t care.
When Su An emerged from the bathroom, he saw this scene: Tong Jiu sitting motionless on the sofa by the bed, eyes glued to Yu Feng, while Yu Feng was leaning against the wall staring at the floor. An eerie silence blanketed the room.
When Su An appeared, both men turned their eyes on him simultaneously. Su An’s mind slowly sprouted a question mark. What… is going on here?
Ignoring Yu Feng for the moment, Tong Jiu stood up, grabbed Su An, and made him sit on the sofa. Once they were seated, Tong Jiu began blinking his eyes frantically at Su An. Su An was confused at first, not catching the signal. It was only when Tong Jiu’s eyes were about to twitch into a cramp that Su An looked in the direction he was gesturing and finally understood.
So, Su An said: “Yu Feng, I want to eat food from Wangjiang Pavilion.”
Wangjiang Pavilion was a property under the Yu Corporation. It was said to serve every cuisine imaginable but was notoriously difficult to book. Su An had been interested for a long time but hadn’t been yet.
Yu Feng smiled playfully and tapped a few things on his phone. “I’ll have Zhou Ran go buy it.”
“No, I want the food you buy,” Su An’s eyes swiveled, his tone carrying a hint of a command. “Go, quickly.”
Yu Feng tucked his phone away, making a theatrical gesture of surrender. “Alright, my little ancestor.” Before leaving, he didn’t forget to instruct: “No running around. Wait for me to come back.”
As soon as the door closed, Tong Jiu, with a smile that almost reached the ceiling, gave Su An a massive hug. “An’an! When Gu Cheng told me you were in the hospital, I was scared to death!”
“You’re okay now, right?” Tong Jiu’s hands moved to Su An’s shoulders, looking him up and down. Just as he was about to flip Su An over for a full inspection, Su An stopped him with a laugh. “I’m fine, really.”
Knowing Su An was okay, Tong Jiu finally relaxed. Immediately, he switched into gossip mode.
“How are things going with you and Yu Feng?” “How is he so obedient to you?” “Is there like, a method or something?” …
“Stop!” Su An quickly cut off Tong Jiu’s incessant chatter. “I’m not opening a class, I’m not taking disciples, and I’m not teaching.”
“Oh.” Tong Jiu nodded, looking a bit disappointed.
Seeing him like this, Su An teased, “Why are you so interested in this? Unless… is something going on with you and Gu Cheng?”
“Not a chance!” Tong Jiu’s volume spiked.
“Oh~” Su An nodded knowingly.
Tong Jiu felt things were getting awkward and quickly changed the subject. “An’an, actually, I have one more thing I want you to help me with…”
“Go ahead.” Su An grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and picked up the paring knife from the cabinet.
“At the end of this month, I’m going to be on a lifestyle variety show. Every guest brings one non-celebrity friend. Can you come with me?”
Su An took a bite of the apple, thinking about his schedule for this month and next. “The end of this month might be a bit busy. I’m not sure yet. If I have time, I’ll let you know.”
Su An didn’t give a definitive “yes,” not because he didn’t want to support Tong Jiu, but because his brooch design, Rhythm of the Sea was about to be released. He expected to be very busy then. Thinking of the plan he had recently sent to Zhang Zhiming, the corners of his mouth ticked up in pleasure.
Tong Jiu thought there was no hope, his eyes drooping in disappointment. Seeing this, Su An explained, “The brooch I designed is about to hit the market. I’ll be busy right at the launch, but if everything goes smoothly, I should have time by the end of the month.”
Tong Jiu only heard the first half and got excited. “An’an! You designed a brooch? And it’s being released?”
Su An smiled and nodded. Tong Jiu grabbed his hand. “Can I see it?”
Su An opened his phone, found the final product photo Su Ju had sent him, and handed it to Tong Jiu.
“It’s beautiful!” Tong Jiu zoomed in to admire the details. “I’m going to be the first one to buy it when it launches!”
A smile lingered on Su An’s lips. “No need to wait for the launch. I can give you one tomorrow.”
“An’an, I love you!” Tong Jiu opened his arms to give Su An another big hug.
A sudden force from behind yanked the leaning Tong Jiu back.
“Say that again?”
Tong Jiu turned his head stiffly. Yu Feng was standing there watching him leisurely, holding the takeout he had just bought.
Tong Jiu: This scene feels way too familiar…
Su An: Oh ho, history repeats itself.