Shortly after Lin Zhenxing left, Yan Yuchuan called Chen Le, omitting some unnecessary details and only saying that he had accidentally missed a step and fallen down the stairwell, needing medical help.
When Chen Le arrived, he brought the family doctor along and gave Yan Yuchuan a preliminary examination. The stairs in his apartment were carpeted, which provided some cushioning, so the fall itself wasn’t too serious likely just superficial injuries. However, the injury to his shoulder was no minor matter; it was suspected to be a dislocation.
They went to the hospital, where Yan Yuchuan had the joint reset, but he refused to have it immobilized and also declined the hospital’s recommendation to stay for observation.
Chen Le could tell that the shoulder injury didn’t look like it came from a fall and more or less guessed what had happened, but he didn’t feel it was his place to say much. He only asked whether Yan Yuchuan would still go to Port Platinum the next day as planned. Yan Yuchuan said yes without hesitation.
He knew better than anyone that if he backed out this time because of Lin Zhenxing’s interference, there would be a second time, and a third. Once a pattern of thinking took hold, it would be hard to break free.
The next day, when Ming Rao saw Yan Yuchuan at the entrance of the residential complex, it was like seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
He sat alone on a wooden bench, wearing a black baseball cap, with a dust mask covering most of his face, leaving only a pair of eyes faintly visible.
Behind him was the children’s play area, where kids of five or six popped out of the slide and bounced around on the grass. Ming Rao stood not far away, amid the boisterous sounds of play, and called Yan Yuchuan’s name several times without getting any response.
Ming Rao moved closer and noticed that Yan Yuchuan’s eyes had been closed the whole time. When he looked up and opened them, his gaze at Ming Rao seemed a bit sluggish. He joked, asking Yan Yuchuan if he was dressed like that to rob a bank on the main street. Yan Yuchuan said there were too many people from Port Platinum around and he didn’t want to be recognized.
Ming Rao shot him an exasperated glare and walked beside him, feeling like he was secretly dating some hot celebrity.
Once in the car, Yan Yuchuan sat in the passenger seat. “Is Tuoba sick?”
“Yeah,” Ming Rao replied. “Urinary blockage.”
“Serious?”
“Not really, nothing major. It’s common with male cats.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ming Rao realized something and gave Yan Yuchuan a once-over.
Yan Yuchuan caught on immediately: “I heard you call him that.”
“Quite the memory,” Ming Rao said with a sour, teasing tone. “If it were me, I wouldn’t remember. Should I buy some of those memory-boosting capsules? The ones being advertised on every platform lately.”
“Useless. Same effect as eating walnuts to boost your brain,” Yan Yuchuan said, then added after a moment’s thought, “Meaning walnuts don’t actually boost your brain either.”
Ming Rao was speechless. “Alright, alright, big scientist.”
The car fell quiet after that. The veterinary clinic was located on a bustling, traffic-heavy street, and if you weren’t careful, you’d get stuck in a jam. As they crawled along slowly, Ming Rao glanced sideways at Yan Yuchuan and noticed his head had drooped, his fingers rubbing at his temples. But because of the cap, he could only scratch at the surface without hitting the spot.
It made Ming Rao uncomfortable just watching. He rolled the window down a crack.
The line of cars finally inched forward a bit, and Ming Rao kept stealing glances at the passenger seat. “You never used to get carsick.”
Yan Yuchuan replied, “Didn’t sleep well,” and fell silent again.
Maybe it was just Ming Rao’s imagination, but he felt like Yan Yuchuan was a bit down today. Or maybe it was because his face was so covered up that it made his mood harder to read.
A tightness welled up in Ming Rao’s chest, and he blurted out, “Then why did you even come? I don’t get what you’re thinking.”
When Yan Yuchuan didn’t answer, that tightness quietly shifted into unease. Ming Rao began to question himself: Was he being too harsh? Sure, he really didn’t understand why Yan Yuchuan had insisted on coming along, but the guy had shown up, and agreeing to help him pick up the cat was never meant to be anything but kind.
Ming Rao quickly glanced at the passenger seat again. Yan Yuchuan had closed his eyes, looking like a city with its gates firmly shut. He bit his lip, pushed the handbrake with more force than necessary, and after parking, went to the back seat to grab the carrier. Yan Yuchuan slowly got up and took quite a while to get out of the car. Ming Rao waited for him at the elevator, and together they went from the underground parking garage up to the first-floor veterinary clinic.
Tuoba had finished his last IV drip that morning and had recovered quite well. The moment he saw them, he was full of energy, though he was filthy having gone from a clean mop to a used one. As soon as he saw Ming Rao, he lowered his head and rubbed against his palm on his own.
Ming Rao scratched under his chin and remembered that Yan Yuchuan seemed to like his cat, so he invited Yan Yuchuan to pet him too.
Tuoba clearly liked Yan Yuchuan as well. After just a couple of strokes, he was already purring and showing his belly, wrapping himself limply around Yan Yuchuan’s slender fingers and nibbling at them.
Seeing this scene, Ming Rao could only grumble to himself in self-deprecation: What a fitting cat for its owner just as pathetic as his master used to be.
The mop flipped and rolled across the tabletop, growing more playful by the second. Suddenly, his amber eyes blazed with intensity, his sharp vertical pupils contracting sharply as if locking onto prey. With a light leap, he climbed onto Yan Yuchuan’s shoulder.
Mop was a natural-born “shoulder cat.” Back when he was still at the cattery, it was precisely a few videos of him lounging on his owner’s shoulder that made him go viral online. Now that he was no longer an internet celebrity, his habit of climbing onto people’s shoulders remained unchanged though generally, he only climbed onto the shoulders of people he knew well.
This was their first meeting, and yet he eagerly jumped onto Yan Yuchuan’s shoulder, showing just how deeply he had taken a liking to him it was love at first sight, so to speak.
Unexpectedly, the moment his body sprang up, Yan Yuchuan’s shoulder gave way as if made of paper, drooping limply.
It wasn’t just his shoulder his entire body tipped backward. Ming Rao instinctively reached out to steady him, catching him from behind just in time to keep him from hitting the ground.
Mop, having been thwarted, slunk back onto the table, curling his body into a tight ball. A nurse picked him up and stroked his fur to soothe him, but he remained glum, head propped up, yowling indignantly at Yan Yuchuan the heartless scoundrel who had spurned his affection both aggrieved and furious.
But Ming Rao had no mind to tend to Mop’s feelings. His hand still held Yan Yuchuan, not letting go. He thought to himself that a cat pouncing on him shouldn’t be a big deal, but the pain on Yan Yuchuan’s face didn’t look feigned, and given his personality, he wouldn’t fake it anyway.
He helped Yan Yuchuan over to the waiting area to sit down, accidentally tugging at his arm in the process. Yan Yuchuan immediately sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
“Does it hurt a lot?” Ming Rao asked, flustered, seeing his lips pale and the corners of his mouth trembling.
Yan Yuchuan shook his head.
Ming Rao’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He forced a lighthearted smile and said, “Mop just has this habit he loves jumping on people. Don’t worry, I’ll put him on a diet meal plan when I get back.”
Yan Yuchuan pulled at the corners of his mouth, giving him a weak, dry laugh.
Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. Thinking back carefully, every single thing Yan Yuchuan had done since they met was abnormal. Ming Rao gave him a thorough once-over from head to toe.
Yan Yuchuan’s spine was rigid, his fingertips faintly trembling, and sweat was beading at his temples, trickling down along the mask’s ear loops. At the junction where the mask met his skin on his cheekbone, Ming Rao caught a glimpse of a faint, barely visible bruise.
In an instant, the smile on Ming Rao’s face vanished completely. Whether out of guilt or some other reason, Yan Yuchuan averted his gaze, avoiding his eyes. Without a word, Ming Rao reached out and yanked off his dust mask.
Yan Yuchuan’s lip was split open, his cheekbone was mottled with purple and blue bruises, and the edge of his ear was scraped raw.
Passing nurses saw this and gasped in surprise: “Oh my, what happened? How did your face get so banged up? Are you alright?”
“We have gauze and alcohol here do you want us to treat that?”
Yan Yuchuan said softly, “It’s fine, I’ve already treated it.”
Ming Rao stared at him without blinking, his eyes shot through with red veins. He vaguely saw Yan Yuchuan’s lips moving, saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear a word perhaps because he knew that at a time like this, whatever Yan Yuchuan said would only make him angrier, so he simply shut his ears.
He contacted his family’s medical team as fast as he could and arranged a full-body examination for Yan Yuchuan. Ten minutes later, a commercial van arrived, delivering a stretcher along with it.
Yan Yuchuan found it both ridiculous and amusing, saying he’d only injured his shoulder and could walk on his own until Ming Rao shot him a glare so ferocious it looked like he wanted to devour him. Cowed, Yan Yuchuan obediently let the orderly lift him onto the stretcher.
The private hospital gave them access to the VIP channel. They breezed through all the examinations without a hitch and received the results immediately.
When the doctor took his history, Yan Yuchuan answered evasively. Ming Rao could tell at once that not a single word was true, though he didn’t want to call him out in public. In the end, the doctor recommended a brain CT scan. Yan Yuchuan said it wasn’t necessary it was just a mild concussion, and he’d already gotten all the medication he needed. Ming Rao shot him a glare and forced him to do it anyway. The result did confirm a mild concussion. The doctor asked Yan Yuchuan which medications he had and didn’t prescribe anything additional.
The private hospital had set up a private room for the Ming family, but Yan Yuchuan insisted on returning to his own residence. Ming Rao figured he probably had work to handle, and since the doctor had also said there was nothing serious the main thing was rest he waited for Yan Yuchuan’s shoulder to be bandaged, then had him driven to his residence at the address Yan Yuchuan provided.
It wasn’t until they arrived that Ming Rao belatedly realized this wasn’t a hotel it was an upscale garden-style residential complex in Port City, selling mostly fully furnished, move-in-ready finished homes.
It was a sprawling two-hundred-plus-square-meter flat with no trace of habitation even the suitcase hadn’t been unpacked yet. Ming Rao took out his pajamas, saw that the bathroom was fully equipped, and walked over to Yan Yuchuan. “Let me check if you have any injuries on your body.”
Yan Yuchuan had his shoulder wrapped in a sling, making movement difficult. Ming Rao simply went ahead and stripped him clean shirt, pants, socks all off, even removing his watch. Noticing many bruises on Yan Yuchuan’s body but no open wounds, he said, “Let’s take a shower first.”
Once inside the bathroom, Ming Rao naturally reached for the last piece of clothing on him his underwear. Yan Yuchuan flinched as if electrocuted, instinctively grabbing the waistband, and said dazedly, “What are you doing?”
“Taking off your clothes,” Ming Rao blinked, looking perfectly justified. “What, do you prefer showering with them on?”
Yan Yuchuan pressed his lips together. Ming Rao watched him quietly for a moment, then wordlessly pulled his underwear off.
The bathroom was spacious, with a unified light-gray decor that visually enhanced the sense of openness. A two-meter-long temperature-controlled massage bathtub stood against the wall, its functions overly complex and flashy.
Ming Rao fiddled with it for a while, accidentally hitting some button. Suddenly it began vibrating wildly, spraying thin streams of water radially from the bottom, drenching him completely before he could react. After a moment of staring at each other, both burst into helpless laughter.
Finally figuring out the controls, Ming Rao huffed as he wrung out a towel. Yan Yuchuan hesitated before speaking: “Actually, I can do it myself”
He was met with a stern glare from Ming Rao.
Yan Yuchuan wisely shut his mouth, quietly watching Ming Rao kneel beside the bathtub and apply shampoo to his hair. He had washed his hair with cold water since childhood, and over time his scalp had grown unaccustomed to higher water temperatures. When the showerhead was turned on, the water was noticeably cooler than the bathwater deliberately adjusted.
Soon, Ming Rao noticed his intense stare and puffed out his cheeks, shouting, “What are you looking at?”
Yan Yuchuan asked directly, “Have you bathed me before?”
Ming Rao pursed his lips, nodded, then muttered sullenly, “More often, you bathed me.”
Yan Yuchuan had a wound on his ear, and Ming Rao, afraid of causing him pain, carefully brushed aside the nearby foam. He said absently, “Your hair is shorter than before.”
His fingertips touched the back of Yan Yuchuan’s head, lingering and circling over a spot, pressing slightly as he rubbed the stiff, short stubble. “It used to reach here.”
Yan Yuchuan had fine, thick hair. He liked to loop his hand around the back of his head, spread his fingers wide, letting the strands slip through the gaps. Sometimes, catching him off guard, he’d give a mischievous tug, earning a “How childish” in response, followed by a silly giggle.
The bathroom was sealed tight, steam rising, the temperature climbing higher and higher until it burned Ming Rao’s senses. He felt he urgently needed a cold shower or to be thrown back into the furnace and remade entirely. Getting aroused from just bathing someone, and toward someone impossible no less he was beyond saving in this lifetime.
“Ming Rao,” Yan Yuchuan cleared his throat at that moment. “There are some things I haven’t told you yet.”
“Hm?” Ming Rao snapped back to reality, answering in a daze.
“I have someone who could be considered a foster father, though there’s no legal adoption. He, he’s a bit troublesome, but you can rest assured, I will never let him hurt you.”
In an instant, all the lascivious thoughts in Ming Rao’s mind vanished. It was like a thunderbolt crashing straight through the gates of his heart. Without needing Yan Yuchuan to say more, a thought formed and burst out: “He hits you, doesn’t he?”
Surprise flickered across Yan Yuchuan’s face, but he didn’t deny it.
Ming Rao’s insides twisted into knots. Suppressing the pain, he said, “Those injuries on you the old ones, this one they’re all from him, right?”
“He only gets like this when he’s drunk,” Yan Yuchuan said, his tone as calm as if he were retelling a story. “This time was an accident. He ambushed me at the stairwell, I wasn’t paying attention, and I fell.”
Back at the innovation camp, there was a period when Yan Yuchuan always carried injuries on him. Whenever asked, he’d say he was a sparring partner at a fighting gym. And during that time, Lin Zhenxing happened to be visiting Port City.
He had suspected it long ago, but Yan Yuchuan always emphasized how well the Lin family treated him funding his education, nurturing his talents calling them the most important benefactors in his life. So Ming Rao never dared to ask such an irreverent question.
“Ming Rao,” Yan Yuchuan spoke up, seeing his continued silence. “I understand your concerns. When I proposed to you, I admit I was too hasty and didn’t think things through. My family situation is actually quite complicated. If you want to call it off ”
Before he could finish, Ming Rao cut him off urgently, his voice sharp: “Call it off what? I’ve already talked it over with my parents! My mom is still asking what you like to eat, and you’re telling me to call it off? How am I supposed to explain that to my parents?”
Yan Yuchuan’s expression softened, and he said gently, “Alright, we won’t call it off.”
His tone was too composed, which only highlighted Ming Rao’s hysteria, making him feel a belated wave of shame.
After the shower, he helped Yan Yuchuan into a bathrobe. Yan Yuchuan stood half a head taller than him. When he spoke, his low voice mixed with warm breath landed right by Ming Rao’s ear: “Want to go see our room?”
Ming Rao frowned in confusion.
Yan Yuchuan explained, “I bought this house. I was in a hurry, so I bought a ready-made one first. Later, I’ll buy another one, and we can decorate it together.”
“No, why are you buying a house in Port Harbor?” The moment the words left his mouth, Ming Rao remembered that Yan Yuchuan was wealthy now and could buy a house anywhere in the world if he wanted to. He awkwardly changed his tune, “I mean, if you’re buying, then buy it. What does it have to do with me.”
Yan Yuchuan’s warm, steady gaze rested on Ming Rao’s face. “I plan to relocate to Port Harbor. From now on, the vice president will handle the day-to-day affairs at headquarters, and I’ll come here to develop new business lines.”
That day in the office, Yan Yuchuan had half-jokingly confided in Ge Yue about his current predicament with his fiancé to sum it up: long-distance, unfamiliarity, never able to meet, the other party indifferent to him, but he valued the relationship deeply.
Ge Yue shrugged and said, “Then go find him. The one closest to the water gets the moon first. How can you pluck the moon without ever stepping out your door?”
Her words were flippant, but they landed on Yan Yuchuan’s heart with the weight of a thousand pounds, instantly enlightening him. Without a moment’s hesitation, without a second’s delay, he swiftly arranged the handover of his work. From then on, Port Harbor would be his home to return to.
“As for what it has to do with you,” Yan Yuchuan’s voice carried a hint of a smile as he said this, “have you forgotten? We’re getting married.”
“…”
Ming Rao indeed often forgot or more precisely, it had never felt real to him. He swallowed hard and stared blankly at Yan Yuchuan.
Yan Yuchuan continued, “I thought that if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I could invite you to live with me. Or, if you don’t want to stay here, you could choose another place you prefer.”
“…”
“Earlier at the pet hospital, you said you wanted to take Mop for a full check-up. Were you planning to go next week? I can take him then.”
“…”
Ming Rao seemed frozen, as if six of his seven souls had fled, reduced to nothing but blinking and breathing.
“You really want to marry me,” Ming Rao said after a moment, having regained his ability to speak, yet his words came out like a babbling child, awkwardly uttering sentences he himself didn’t understand. “You want to live with me.”
Yan Yuchuan was taken aback, then immediately replied, “Of course.”
Feeling that wasn’t enough, and unable to think of a more solemn response in that instant, he borrowed his own words and repeated, “I want to marry you, and live with you.”
Ming Rao’s legs went weak, and he stumbled backward, his back slamming hard against the corner of the quartz vanity counter. It hurt, but he had no mind to care.
“But,” he stood there in a daze, his gaze unfocused, as if looking at Yan Yuchuan, or perhaps through Yan Yuchuan at someone who could no longer respond to him, “you don’t remember me.”
In the next few seconds, visibly, the bewilderment on Ming Rao’s face rapidly transformed into a more turbulent emotion.
His scattered gaze suddenly sharpened, erupting like a volcano from his dark, glistening eyes, staining his eye sockets red, and he screamed out with eyes wide as if they would split, his heart torn and lungs rent
“You forgot me completely, denied our feelings entirely, left me alone to grieve for so many years, made me feel like I was someone who couldn’t love, didn’t deserve to be loved, and was only fit to be deleted like garbage. How dare you say all this to me now?!”