One Night

An entire night passed by quietly.

The sun slowly rose from behind the tall buildings, the tree shadows were long and dense, and the rustling cicada chirps made one suddenly realize that the cold winter had long since passed.

This was probably the most peaceful sleep Zhuang Yihan had gotten recently. No waking up startled for no reason, no baseless panic, so exhausted that he didn't even dream, only the warmth of the person pressed tightly beside him, making him feel at ease from his very bones.

Early the next morning, when he woke from his sleep, the first thing he did was reach for the spot beside him, but he found it empty; he couldn't feel Chen Shu's body no matter how he tried. In that instant, all of Zhuang Yihan's sleepiness vanished. He scrambled out of bed, his tone unable to hide his nervousness, afraid that everything that happened yesterday was just a dream, afraid that Chen Shu hadn't come back, and that he would never see this person again:

"Chen Shu?!"

Zhuang Yihan ignored the dizzying ache in his head from sleeping too long and quickly got out of bed to look for him. But he searched the hotel room from top to bottom and found no trace of Chen Shu. Finally, just as his heart had sunk, he discovered a bowl of still-warm breakfast congee on the dining table. Underneath it was a note with a short line of words written on it:

[Rest well.]

There wasn't even a signature.

Zhuang Yihan picked up the piece of paper. 'Why did Chen Shu leave without saying goodbye? Did my behavior yesterday scare him off after all?' He unconsciously crumpled the paper into a ball, but he couldn't bear to throw it away. In the end, he hurriedly threw on his clothes, stuffed the note into his pocket, and drove away from the hotel.

Zhuang Yihan didn't go looking for Chen Shu immediately. Instead, he went home to change into a fresh set of clothes and had his secretary investigate all of Chen Shu's family information, not even sparing his hometown address. He vaguely remembered that Chen Shu's father had a weak heart. Getting this kind of surgery done sooner rather than later would bring peace of mind and prevent problems from developing over time. With a single phone call, he arranged in Chen Shu's name for Father Chen to be brought to a hospital in A City for a check-up, and also handled the admission procedures.

Zhuang Yihan had originally wanted to buy another house for Chen Shu's family, but he remembered Chen Shu saying in his past life that his father wasn't used to living in the city. He hesitated for a moment and then dismissed the idea, planning to pick one out slowly later. After all, a house was a place to live for a lifetime, so the location had to be to one's liking.

By the time all these miscellaneous matters were arranged, a week had passed since they last met. During this time, Zhuang Yihan had been restraining his desire to see Chen Shu, not wanting to scare him off right at the beginning of this life.

Chen Shu had already quit his part-time job at the bar and was now working at a convenience store on weekends. Although the pay wasn't high, it helped supplement his living expenses. He spent the rest of his time researching the current state of the online market, intending to do his homework for his future entrepreneurial ventures. On this day, he came out of the school with a sports sling bag, ready to swap for the afternoon shift with a colleague. But unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped out, he saw Zhuang Yihan's familiar Maybach parked at the entrance, and his steps couldn't help but falter.

Zhuang Yihan had clearly been waiting for a long time. Seeing people coming and going, he was worried Chen Shu wouldn't like being seen by his classmates, so he didn't get out of the car and just honked the horn lightly.

Chen Shu stood there hesitating for a moment, but eventually walked over. He opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat. His attitude was the same as when they first met, gentle yet polite: "President Zhuang, is there something you need me for?"

Judging by his tone, it was as if they were strangers, though in this life, they were indeed "strangers" who had only just recently met.

Zhuang Yihan paused upon hearing this. Although there was a hint of imperceptible disappointment, he quickly lowered his gaze to hide his emotions. He forced a smile, then reached into the back seat, grabbed a box, and handed it to Chen Shu, trying to organize his words: "It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered that I forgot to get your number last time. I happened to have some free time a couple of days ago, so I bought you a phone. You can use this to contact me next time. The SIM card is all set up."

As he spoke, he took another box from the back seat, this one larger than the last: "It's more convenient to use a computer for your studies these days. When I was buying the phone, someone recommended this computer. It's supposed to be pretty good. You can try it out and see if it runs smoothly."

Zhuang Yihan had actually bought many clothes for Chen Shu as well, but he didn't dare to take them out, afraid of seeming too eager and scaring him away, even though giving a phone and a computer would already be considered overly enthusiastic in the eyes of an ordinary person.

Chen Shu looked at the heavy items in his hands and saw that they were all this year's latest models, likely costing a fortune. He was silent for a moment before saying, "President Zhuang, thank you for your kindness, but these things are too expensive. I can't accept them."

Hearing this, the curve of Zhuang Yihan's lips gradually fell. He looked at Chen Shu cautiously, not angry, just at a loss from being rejected: "Why? Don't you like them?"

Chen Shu shook his head: "No, the items are all very nice. It's just that you've already helped me a lot. My phone and computer aren't broken, and they work just fine. There's no need to replace them."

After speaking, he placed the two heavy boxes back onto the rear seat. He considered for a moment before saying, "Yesterday, my younger brother called and said someone had arranged for my father to be admitted to the hospital for surgery, with all expenses covered."

Seeing Chen Shu refuse his gifts, Zhuang Yihan's heart felt as if it had been plunged into cold water. He silently rolled down the window for some air, but the noisy car horns from outside were too much, so he simply closed it again and said in a low voice, "Is that so? That's good."

Chen Shu hadn't expected that after all the twists and turns of fate, his father's illness would still be resolved by Zhuang Yihan: "President Zhuang, I'm already very content that you helped arrange my father's surgery. You don't need to buy me anything else. As for the hospitalization fees, I will..."

A sharp pang went through Zhuang Yihan's heart when he heard that. He couldn't stop himself from saying in a low voice, "I never said you had to pay me back."

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the feeling of helplessness in his heart, and forced a relaxed smile: "Chen Shu, don't be in such a hurry to refuse. I told you when we met last time, I took a liking to you. Can't you just treat it as a favor between friends?"

"I know you might not believe me, and it's too soon to talk about feelings, but can you give me a chance? Don't draw the line between us so clearly. Let me help you, okay?"

Because of the chaos brought by the Parasites, Zhuang Yihan had never truly learned how to pursue someone in either of his two lives. But in this life, he really wanted to love Chen Shu properly, to strive to do better in all the things he failed at in his past life, to try and rein in his anxiety so he wouldn't scare him away.

The car was silent; for a moment, only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

Zhuang Yihan looked at Chen Shu with reddened eyes, unable to hide his inherent stubbornness.

Chen Shu still had that same calm and unruffled expression, but only he knew what he was thinking. After an unknown amount of time, the alarm he had set out of fear of being late for work went off at an inopportune moment, sounding particularly abrupt in the silent car.

Chen Shu took out his phone and turned off the alarm, speaking apologetically, "I'm sorry, it's time for my shift. We can talk about whatever it is next time."

After he finished speaking, he directly opened the door, got out, and gently closed it. Seeing this, Zhuang Yihan's face turned pale and unsightly. He felt as if his heart had sunk to the bottom of a valley, a chill spreading through his entire body.

However, before he could feel sad for too long, he saw Chen Shu suddenly stop, turn back, walk over, and rap on the car window with his knuckle, as if he had something to say.

Zhuang Yihan didn't understand what he was doing and could only dumbly lower the window, his voice hoarse, "What is it?"

Chen Shu didn't explain, only said one thing: "Give me your hand."

Zhuang Yihan subconsciously did as he was told. He saw Chen Shu take a pen from his pocket, then lower his gaze and write a string of numbers on his palm. The pen tip was sharp, but his strokes were very light. He couldn't feel any pain, only a ticklish sensation that seemed to reach his very bones.

After he finished writing, Chen Shu let go of Zhuang Yihan's hand. He leaned over slightly, one hand braced on the roof of the car. Behind him were tree shadows and sunlight, and his profile was bathed in the pale golden light, looking impossibly handsome. His voice was deep, "Call this number next time you're looking for me."

Zhuang Yihan lowered his head and stared blankly at his palm, only to realize he knew the string of numbers on it by heart. Wasn't this the same number he had called over eight hundred times in his past life after Chen Shu broke up with him, only to be blocked in the end?

Damn, how heartbreaking!

Click.

He didn't know if it was intentional or not, but the pen also slid in through the window, landing unerringly on Zhuang Yihan's lap—in that private area. It startled him so much that he reflexively snapped his knees together, the back of his ears turning so red they looked like they would bleed.

Heh...

In a daze, a low chuckle sounded by his ear, making one blush to the roots of their hair. However, when Zhuang Yihan subconsciously looked up, the person had already turned and left, leaving only the half-open window and the rolling traffic outside.