The next morning, just past six o’clock as dawn was breaking, Shen Yanxing was awakened by the glow of his phone.
He hadn’t been sleeping deeply. Startled awake, he quickly kicked off the blanket and reached for his fully charged phone on the nightstand.
“Auntie!” Without checking the caller ID, his gut told him it was Gao Qiumei. “What on earth happened last night…?”
Gao Qiumei’s exhausted voice came through the speaker. “I’m so sorry, Star. Auntie was left with no choice. You’re my absolute favorite…how could I ever have the heart to abandon you to that scumbag’s mom?”
“I don’t have any ‘scumbag’s mom.’ I only have you, Auntie.”
Shen Yanxing sat up in bed and switched on the lamp.
“Good thing we’re on the same wavelength. As soon as you hung up, I figured out your hint and didn’t come home. Is everything okay now? What really happened last night?”
Gao Qiumei explained that Zhang Yuehan had suddenly turned up late last night with two heavily built men, aggressively demanding to take Shen Yanxing away.
When she had taken him in all those years ago, Gao Qiumei had been under thirty…ineligible under adoption laws to complete official adoption paperwork. Because of that, Zhang Yuehan remained Shen Yanxing’s legal guardian.
Although Shen Yanxing hadn’t had any direct contact with Zhang Yuehan since then, Gao Qiumei and Zhang Yuehan had stayed intermittently in touch over the years…Gao Qiumei to ensure Zhang Yuehan wouldn’t return to reclaim the boy, and Zhang Yuehan to make sure Gao Qiumei didn’t dump him back.
After Shen Yanxing was taken away back then, Zhang Yuehan hadn’t managed to marry his wealthy lover as he’d hoped. Still, being naturally vulgar and reckless, his life had certainly become much sweeter without a “burdensome stepchild” holding him back.
His sudden overnight change in attitude and demand to take the boy had startled even Gao Qiumei. “He knows our address and where I work. I didn’t dare act recklessly, so I had to resort to that hint.”
“Mm-hmm, it’s okay!” The obedient Shen Yanxing quickly tried to reassure her. “Once I figured out what you meant, I wasn’t upset at all. I was just really worried about you, afraid you’d run into trouble. Did… did ‘those people’ hurt you? Showing up out of nowhere demanding to take me away…they must have some hidden motive.”
Gao Qiumei added that Zhang Yuehan had waited all night until five in the morning, leaving only when he couldn’t hold out any longer. She had waited another hour to make sure the men were truly gone before daring to call Shen Yanxing from her work number.
“While he was waiting overnight, I tried probing him for answers. He was vague, but I could tell taking you back wasn’t his idea…it came from your ‘biological father.’”
Another unfamiliar term crashed into Shen Yanxing’s mind.
He froze for a few seconds, trying to convince himself he’d heard wrong.
“…Why?” Stunned by the reality of what he’d just heard, Shen Yanxing asked with a frown. “They disliked me, despised me, and abandoned me back then…so why are they coming back to bother me now? How can they be so selfish? What are they really after?”
“Your ‘biological father’ gave Zhang Yuehan a huge sum of money to bring you back within a short timeframe. That’s all I managed to get out of him; I don’t know anything else.”
Gao Qiumei let out a long sigh on the phone.
She then shifted to the main topic. “Since you didn’t go home last night, where did you stay? Did you find a small motel, or did you go to a classmate’s house?”
Shen Yanxing paused, looking guiltily around the five-star hotel room he was in.
Faced with a choice between the truth and telling her later, Shen Yanxing chose later. Things were far too complicated right now; he couldn’t even make sense of them himself, let alone explain them to her.
“I… I stayed at a classmate’s place,” Shen Yanxing went along with her suggestion. “I’m completely fine, Auntie, don’t worry.”
“Is that so? Good, good. I’d be even more worried if you stayed at one of those shady cheap motels.”
Gao Qiumei let out a sigh of relief and asked, “Is this classmate a boy? Are you two close? I’m afraid Zhang Yuehan might come back. If you get along well with him, could you… stay at your classmate’s place a bit longer? Maybe a week or two?”
Shen Yanxing stammered, “That… shouldn’t be a problem?”
“Talk it over with him properly, and ask his parents, too. You’re around the same age, so his parents probably won’t mind. If they say no, give Auntie a call and I’ll explain things to them, alright?”
Shen Yanxing had no choice but to agree.
After hanging up, Gao Qiumei sent Shen Yanxing 1,000 yuan via her work WeChat, telling him to buy some sweets and snacks for his classmate, or perhaps a gift for the parents.
Guiltily accepting the money, Shen Yanxing surveyed the room once more.
Staying at this hotel required no out-of-pocket expenses for him at all. Gu Congjue had told him yesterday that the hotel bill would be charged directly to his father’s credit card, automatically settling when the billing cycle arrived, so he shouldn’t worry about the cost.
He could stay here for as many days as he wanted. The room auto-renewed anyway, saving him from worrying about check-out times or feeling rushed.
Realizing he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, Shen Yanxing simply got out of bed. Mimicking Gu Congjue’s action from the previous night, he pulled back the heavy blackout curtains.
Without the dramatic dark backdrop of night, the city lost a bit of its brilliant neon glow, but the morning sunlight made the refined outline of the cityscape even clearer. Looking down through the floor-to-ceiling window at everything beneath his feet, a sudden, inexplicable urge welled up in Shen Yanxing’s heart.
What was so bad about going to high school and taking the art exams?
Why had he been so obsessed with vocational school and working part-time jobs for money? Could the return on a few meager part-time gigs ever compare to what a good diploma could bring?
Someone was forcefully arranging everything for him, planning a brighter, broader future on his behalf…so why not just go with the flow?
Why not cooperate, go to high school, and take the art exams?
And why not… take the chance to become Gu Congjue’s real “lover”?
The moment that terrifying thought popped up, an uncontrollable shiver ran down Shen Yanxing’s spine.
An unspeakable wave of inferiority and shame washed over him, filling him with self loathing…disgusted by the selfish thought that had just flashed through his mind.
Gu Congjue had been so good to him! Arriving the moment he needed help, paying for a five-star hotel, and helping him tutor for the makeup exams… As a friend he’d only known for a day, Gu Congjue had already done so much. How could he…
How could he be so insatiable and endlessly demanding?
Looking at his own reflection in the glass window, Shen Yanxing couldn’t help but curse himself under his breath: “You’re really despicable.”
Staying in a five-star hotel, and already fantasizing about hooking a rich young master.
Yet, now that he’d had a taste of luxury…knowing how wonderful the bustling city center was and how comfortable a five-star hotel bed felt…how could he be willing to return to how things used to be?
How could he not want to give it a shot?
They had agreed to meet at 9:30 AM, when Gu Congjue would come to the hotel room to find him. Before his “tutor” arrived, Shen Yanxing had a good chunk of free time.
He grabbed his fully charged phone, threw on yesterday’s clothes, and took a walk around the area. The commercial streets surrounding the five-star hotel were quite expensive, and it took Shen Yanxing a while to find a cozy, lively alley where he bought soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns for breakfast.
Passing by a clothing shop that had just opened, he went in and bought a pair of casual trousers, a pair of casual shorts, and two plain t-shirts in different colors. Then, following the shop owner’s directions, he went into a mall to pick up a five pack of men’s underwear.
Since he was going to stay out for half a month, he needed at least two changes of clothes. Things in the city center were far too expensive, so two outfits were all he was willing to spend on.
Altogether, he’d spent nearly 500 yuan on this trip. He hadn’t intended to buy anything else on his way back to the hotel, but the rich aroma from a bakery drew him in again.
He looked at the bakery, then at the bubble tea shop next door. Gathering his courage, he made up his mind and walked over.
At 9:30 sharp, Gu Congjue rang the doorbell of Shen Yanxing’s room.
“Coming!” Shen Yanxing opened the door swiftly, greeting Gu Congjue with a bright, refreshing smile the moment their eyes met. “Have you had breakfast?”
Gu Congjue froze for a second under that smile. “…I have.”
“Did you really?” Shen Yanxing blinked, looking unconvinced. “If you did, why do you look so out of it? Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
“It was alright?”
Looking into Shen Yanxing’s sparkling eyes, Gu Congjue actually felt his brain go blank for a second.
“Yeah, it was fine.”
He dazed off for two or three seconds. Coming back to his senses, he quickly hauled the tutoring materials at his feet into the room.
Shen Yanxing really is gorgeous, he thought. Those almond eyes were so bright, his lips thin and tender pink, and his dimple and the tear mark under his right eye complemented his features perfectly.
An ordinary person, upon appreciating their crush’s good looks, would instantly realize just how deeply in love they were. But Gu Congjue…possessing a uniquely wired brain and a naturally dense personality…was no ordinary person!
After marveling at Shen Yanxing’s beauty and praising his own great taste, a far more profound realization struck him: The rescue mission admits no delay!
His obsession had always been saving Shen Yanxing.
They had to get better together. Only when he saw Shen Yanxing step onto a grander, more brilliant stage would he have the right to confess…only then would he have fulfilled the promise from his past life!
“Do you want to sit down for a bit first?”
Shen Yanxing helped drag the study materials inside, then pulled two homemade mini-cakes out of the mini-fridge.
“Thanks for coming all the way here. Why don’t you eat something and rest first? I bought some fruit tea, and I made a taro cake using plain sponge cake and bubble tea toppings.”
Shen Yanxing’s hands were trembling slightly. He felt guilty on the inside, but his physical movements were deliberate…every gesture subtly radiating his personal charm.
“Want to try it and see if it’s good?”
Apprehensively setting the taro cake down on the desk, Shen Yanxing was just about to pull his hand back when his right wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Shen Yanxing felt his heart skip a beat.
He felt ashamed of his deliberate behavior, yet his heart fluttered at the firm grip around his wrist.
This hand is so strong, so steady. Perhaps because he’d grown up facing so much hardship, insecurity, and low self-esteem, he was effortlessly drawn to this unwavering strength.
Shen Yanxing secretly swallowed hard and looked up to meet Gu Congjue’s eyes. “W-What is it?”
“Eat later.”
Gu Congjue pried open Shen Yanxing’s right hand, slipped a gel pen between his thumb and index finger, and handed over an A3-sized exam paper.
“Warm up first with a set of Huanggang High School Entrance Exam Chinese practice questions.”