No matter how much he wanted to stall, the car quickly arrived at their destination.
Li Yan unlocked the door for him to go inside and cautioned at the entrance, “You’d better not go wandering outside alone. If you get bored, feel free to read any of the books on the bookshelf. If anything comes up, we can talk about it when I get back.”
With any chance of going along with him completely dashed, and knowing he had less than seven hours left, An Chutang’s anxiety was plainly visible.
He directly grabbed the other’s hand, but what met his touch was a pair of cold leather gloves. By this point, his frustration had reached its absolute limit, so he vented by roughly pulling off the other’s gloves, tossing them onto the floor, and once again gripping his hands with both of his own.
[Ding! Holding hands increases life value by one hour.]
The other’s sudden action startled Li Yan for a moment. Then, his gaze darkened, and he narrowed his eyes slightly as he stepped closer to An Chutang, his voice low and dangerous. “What is Young Master An playing at?”
An Chutang certainly knew he had crossed the line, but letting go immediately right now would make things look even weirder.
Putting on as natural an expression as he could, he forced himself to keep holding the other’s hands while looking at him with genuine earnestness. “I’m just reminding you to be extremely careful on the road! Make sure you communicate well with your elder when you get home. Just imagine if, like Li Guangtao said, your grandfather punishes you by sending you off to the military camp to train—how miserable would that be!”
The more he thought about it, the more desperate he felt, prompting him to remind him, “And most importantly! You must come back safely and early!”
Li Yan let out a soft chuckle, turned the tables to grip his hands instead, and took a step forward, forcing An Chutang to retreat step by step.
“I’m just heading back to my own home, yet your instructions sound as if you’re sending me off to a battlefield.”
Right as he backed up against the wall by the door, Li Yan abruptly closed the distance, placing one hand on the wall beside An Chutang’s ear while bringing his face closer and closer.
An Chutang instantly held his breath, momentarily baffled by the other’s behavior.
Until the other’s thin lips stopped right beside his ear, his voice dropping low and raspy enough to make his skin tingle: “What? Does Tangtang really find it that hard to part with me?”
What kind of nickname is Tangtang? But more importantly, this question was extremely dangerous!
Anyone who didn’t know the situation would definitely think the other guy was flirting with him!
Fortunately, An Chutang still retained a shred of sanity; he absolutely could not let the other person figure out that his feelings had gone astray and thus push him away.
With a light punch of his fist against the other’s shoulder, he purposely tilted his head so that his ear brushed lightly against Li Yan’s lips, enduring the tickling sensation.
[Ding! Skin-to-skin contact increases life value by thirty minutes.]
Averting his gaze from the other’s eyes, he offered an awkward, sheepish smile. “Of course! You’re the only friend I really hit it off with here. If you don’t come back soon, I’ll be so bored. I’d rather suffer heartbreak than lose a friend like you!”
That split second of contact hadn’t been an illusion; the excessive softness still seemed to linger against his lips, which only made Li Yan all the more determined to claim the person before him as his own.
The tip of Li Yan’s tongue gave a fierce push against his inner cheek, and he let out a low laugh before stepping back slightly. “Rest assured, you suit my tastes just fine too. I’ll be back very soon, so just be a good boy and wait for me at home.”
What does ‘suit my tastes’ even mean? This guy had a handsome face, but his emotional intelligence was seriously lacking.
Still, hearing that the other would return soon allowed An Chutang to breathe a small sigh of relief.
Watching with puppy-dog eyes as the other quickly left, he had to admit that the feeling really was just like seeing off his own husband to the battlefield.
[Stop staring, he’s already out of sight. You didn’t make a move earlier, and now you’re just standing there like a waiting-husband stone.]
The system suddenly piped up with a tone of disdain, startling the spaced-out An Chutang.
He went back inside, closed the door, sat down on the sofa, and blurted out directly: “Make a move what move?! Didn’t you see how close I was to the edge of the cliff just now? I almost got caught drooling over his body. If he found out a man was eyeing him up and scheming to do all sorts of things to him, wouldn’t he run as far away from me as possible and never see me again for the rest of his life?!”
[Tsk tsk…] The system’s voice exuded utter contempt. [I’ve never seen someone so…]
“Hm? Think carefully before you finish that sentence.”
[No, it’s just that I’m practically starving to death here. Don’t you think there’s something a bit off about Li Yan? Maybe he’s actually looking forward to doing this and that with you too?]
“Can you peer into his mind or something? Looking forward to doing what with me, as if that’s even possible! In this era, if people found out I’m gay, who knows what kind of chaos would ensue. Thank goodness my reflexes are fast; I managed to casually take advantage of him just now without raising any suspicions.”
A mouthful of old blood choked right in the system’s throat. Wanting to argue but unable to interfere with the development between the two, it simply gave up, played dead, and went silent.
The Li family courtyard was located in the military residential compound on the south side of the city.
The guard post was manned by a young active-duty soldier. Seeing Li Yan approach, he immediately opened the gate and waved him through. “Big Brother Yan is back.”
“Yeah, is it your shift today?”
The young soldier had a darker complexion, and his smile made his teeth look exceptionally white. “Yup. I heard that when you went to the camp for training last time, you actually knocked our squad leader flat on his back. When are you coming over again? Let’s spar a bit!”
Li Yan walked right past him. “Wish me some luck instead! I don’t want to get thrown back into the old man’s training camp.”
The courtyard was massive. The front section held several rows of neat, single-story bungalow yards, while further inside stood two-story dark red residential buildings spaced several meters apart.
Li Yan parked in front of one of them, and the guard inside the gate hurried over upon hearing the commotion.
“Little Yan is back. Go on inside quickly, your grandfather has been waiting anxiously.”
Li Yan parked his motorcycle in the courtyard and took off his gloves. “Brother Zhang, how is the old man’s mood?”
“He doesn’t look like he’s throwing a tantrum. Bank President Zhang came by this morning; the moment he stepped out, your grandfather started looking for you. You didn’t stir up any trouble outside, did you?”
It seemed his guess was right. “No trouble. There must be other matters. I’ll head in first.”
Up on the second floor, Li Yan knocked on the study door and entered.
The entire set of rosewood furniture inside gave off a stern, neat impression. At that moment, Li Donghai was standing by the desk practicing calligraphy, backed by a full wall of bookcases. Looking closely, one could see they were filled with historical and military volumes.
“So you remember how to come back.”
Though Li Donghai was approaching seventy, his voice remained deep and carried a heavy sense of oppression.
Li Yan stood there with a lazy posture, resembling a silent form of defiance. “Why did you call me back?”
With a tight frown, Li Donghai raised his head and put down his brush. “Can’t I call you back unless something’s wrong? This is your home!”
Seeing Li Yan stand there in silence without a word, his anger flared up even more. “I let it slide when you insisted on resigning and diving into the economic sea. What now? Have your wings grown stiff, and you want to abandon your family too?”
A slight flicker crossed Li Yan’s expression. “Do you even know what I want?”
“Bang!” Li Donghai slammed his palm down hard on the desk. “I told you not to bring up your parents anymore! What? Do you want to take your business abroad as well?”
Li Yan’s gaze turned sharp in an instant. “Is it really that hard to give me closure? With your status, I refuse to believe you couldn’t check whether they are dead or alive, or if they really defected abroad like people claim!”
“Shut up!” Li Donghai was so angry he nearly lost his footing, yet he was powerless to refute it.
Struggling to calm his emotions, he ultimately let out a heavy sigh filled with utter helplessness.
“This matter ends here. Those two people are not to be mentioned in this house ever again. I won’t interfere with your resignation either—do whatever you want with your tossing and turning. The only reason I called you back today is to ask you about something else.”
Li Yan hadn’t expected the person who had violently opposed his resignation just days ago to accept it so quickly. It seemed An Chutang’s background truly wasn’t ordinary.
“What do you want to ask?”
With a grave expression, Li Donghai asked, “When did you meet the young man surnamed An who went to the bank with you today? How much do you know about him?”
(Life Countdown: 8 hours 40 minutes.)