The Big Boss' Medicine 29

Saying they would go, they went. There wasn't anything major happening today. Yan Shen made a call to the lawyer, had the driver make a turn, and went to the bank.

With their connections, in less than half an hour, the two retrieved the items Yan Shen's mother had left in the bank's safety deposit box.

There weren't many items, and they were miscellaneous. Since there were still many outsiders around, Yan Shen didn't carefully examine them. He hastily had his assistant put everything into a small box and took it away.

Su Duan only vaguely recognized a piece of jade-like green stone, a letter-like paper, a photo album, and an old metal plate among the items.

The two quickly brought these things back home.

After returning home, Yan Shen didn't rush to open the box. Instead, he placed the box on the table, tapped his slender fingers on it, and stared at it in silence for a while. Then he turned to Su Duan and said, "Let me tell you a story. Do you want to hear it?"

Su Duan was diligently making tea. He was brewing Hangzhou white chrysanthemum buds. The small, orange-yellow flowers, curled into segments, were steeped in boiling water. Before long, they bloomed, though not large, with dense petals floating on the water surface, as if they had come to life and were stretching their bodies. The water was dyed a light yellow, translucent and clear, reflected in the glass cup without any turbidity, looking extremely good.

Chrysanthemum tea, light and heat-clearing. Su Duan felt that Yan Shen really needed it right now.

Su Duan pushed the freshly brewed cup of chrysanthemum tea to Yan Shen's side. The little chrysanthemums inside swayed with his movement, like soft little jellyfish. "I want to hear it. Drink some water."

After Yan Shen's fingertips touched the cup, Su Duan suddenly remembered something and hurriedly added, "Wait a bit, drinking it now will scald your tongue."

Yan Shen nodded and said okay. He also made a cup of small chrysanthemum tea for Su Duan, placed it in front of him, and then began to tell the story.

The "story" Yan Shen told, Su Duan had already read through once in the information provided by the system. But hearing the man personally recount it felt completely different from reading the information himself. Although the man had already omitted many of the overly miserable parts, halfway through listening, Su Duan still couldn't help but start crying, tears pattering down.

Yan Shen stopped, leaned in closer, bent down and used a tissue to wipe the transparent liquid oozing from the corners of his eyes, coaxing, "Be good, Duan Duan."

Even if he appeared strong on the surface, everyone inevitably had a place in their heart that hurt when touched. Recalling these unpleasant things, his mood couldn't help but become somewhat gloomy.

...As a result, with Su Duan's crying, those gloomy feelings instantly dissipated like a popped balloon.

His mood became oddly calm, and there was even something soft that fell into his heart, like a dense tuft of cotton accidentally dropped by a hamster while making its nest, rolling softly in his heart with a gust of wind.

The little hamster cried and hiccuped at the same time. The tissue was all wet with tears that couldn't be wiped clean, looking pitiful and in a sorry state. Those who didn't know might think he was the one with the unfortunate childhood.

Yan Shen coaxed him for a long time before Su Duan stopped crying, only still hiccuping softly.

Yan Shen soothingly pinched his soft cheeks, really wanting to stuff some melon seeds inside to block his mouth. "Let's not talk anymore, let's go to sleep."

Su Duan sniffled and shook his head. "...No, keep going."

However, Yan Shen no longer had much desire to talk.

Originally, just a few minutes ago, he really wanted to talk.

He had always kept these things well hidden, not even telling his own therapist. But after Su Duan said that sentence that made him happy, he suddenly couldn't control the urge to tell his little hamster about these experiences.

Like all ordinary people in the world, he also had the most basic joys, angers, sorrows and happiness. He had unspeakable selfish desires, wanting to gain sympathy and be comforted when he was wronged.

...Especially by someone he cared about.

This secret wish had been buried in his heart for countless days, and finally sprouted a tiny bud after more than twenty years.

And the person he cared about also gave him a response beyond his expectations.

How did he become so delicate—

When wiping away Su Duan's tears, Yan Shen couldn't say what he felt in his heart. It seemed to suddenly become a bit empty and light, but also very relaxed. His mind no longer even thought about those past events.

Unlike deliberately forgetting in the past, he had a vague premonition that this time he truly didn't care anymore.

The more one avoided and buried certain things, the deeper they would take root in one's heart. One day, on a whim, digging it out to take a look, it would suddenly and unexpectedly melt under the sun outside, turning to ashes with a gust of wind.

Rather than dwelling on the past, it was more important to figure out how to coax the little hamster in front of him who might cry again at any time.

Yan Shen tossed the mostly wet tissue in his hand and pulled out a new one to dab Su Duan's nose.

[Ding, the healing value for the target Yan Shen has increased by 10 points. The current total healing value for the target is 90. Host, please keep up the good work!]

Su Duan hiccuped from crying and brought the tea on the table to his lips.

He was so angry from listening that he almost died, but the person he should be angry at was Yan Shen's biological mother after all. He couldn't complain in front of Yan Shen. A surge of stifled anger was hidden in his chest, but he couldn't release it. Yan Shen, who should be the angriest, seemed to have no emotional fluctuations and even had the leisure to meticulously wipe his tears and dab his nose.

The chrysanthemum tea originally prepared to relieve Yan Shen's internal heat was not used. He had already started drinking it himself first.

However, as soon as the tea entered his mouth, Su Duan's expression immediately became strange. His eyes were wide open, seeming very surprised.

The tea was too hot. Even after cooling for a few minutes, it had not dropped to a suitable temperature. Su Duan also had a bit of a cat's tongue and couldn't drink hot things. After one sip, his whole person became refreshed, and he even stopped hiccuping.

Seeing his appearance, Yan Shen knew he had scalded his tongue from drinking the water. He frowned and quickly pinched his chin to make him open his mouth. "Ah—open your mouth, stick out your tongue and let me see."

Su Duan cooperatively stuck out his tongue. The tip of his tongue was a bit red, but there was nothing more serious.

Yan Shen looked for a while, released his chin, and asked, "Does it hurt?"

The scalded tongue tip moved slightly in his mouth. There was a bit of a throbbing pain, and the sense of taste in that area also seemed to be not very sensitive. However, the symptoms were mild. Su Duan honestly replied, "A little."

Yan Shen brought him some cool water and let him hold it in his mouth for a while. He also held Su Duan's tongue tip and tasted a slightly bitter fragrance. After confirming the temperature there was not much different from other parts, he felt relieved and instructed him: "Don't be so reckless next time."

Su Duan made a few "mm-hmm" sounds, urging him to finish telling the "story".

Yan Shen's obsession with the past was no longer as strong, but since Su Duan wanted to hear it, he patiently recounted it once more.

This time he was more astute. Seeing Su Duan's eyes starting to redden, he bent down and took Su Duan's tongue tip in his mouth, saying he was checking Su Duan's tongue. Distracted by this, Su Duan just opened his mouth blankly, letting Yan Shen inspect it, and couldn't cry.

By the time Yan Shen finished telling the story, Su Duan's lower lip was slightly swollen from being sucked on, rosy and bearing a hint of color from the friction.

After finishing, Yan Shen dismantled the small box.

The items inside were very fragmented, and some had become fragile and aged after more than 20 years, so Yan Shen handled them very carefully.

Yan Shen took them out one by one.

The first item was his elementary school badge. Because it was from so long ago, the photo on it had already developed a yellow tint left by the years.

Su Duan stared at the young Yan Shen, who was not even ten years old, for a while and commented: "So small." And tender-looking.

Yan Shen was delicate-looking since he was young, and had always had a stern little face and didn't like to talk much. But being so young and good-looking, it still made people itch with adoration.

The second item was a photo album, mostly containing photos of Yan Shen before the age of three, including his 100-day celebration photo. Don't be fooled by how dignified President Yan looks now - as a baby he was also a chubby little thing with a bare bottom. However, he seemed a bit more serious than other babies, not smiling in the photos, as if even the curve of his chubby chin exuded aloofness.

It made Su Duan really want to...pinch him.

At that time, Yan Shen's father had not yet returned to China and completely fallen out with his mother. The woman still had some patience for him, so her figure would sometimes appear in the photos. But after Yan Shen turned three, besides the one-inch photo on his school badge, there were no more photos.

Su Duan was obviously very interested in this album. He flipped through it twice. Seeing that he liked it, Yan Shen directly gave it to him to take back to his room to look at slowly.

Su Duan immediately agreed with delight, hugging the old album and smiling with crescent eyes, like a little hamster stuffing its cheeks full of sunflower seeds, content and satisfied.

......

Most of the items were small trinkets. The more unique ones were probably a letter and a jade pendant.

The letter was written by Yan Shen's mother ten years ago. When he picked it up, the paper made an overburdened rustling sound, as if it would rupture at any moment. After reading it once, Yan Shen didn't make any comment, folded it back up and put it away.

The last item was a jade pendant, light green in color, emitting a clear luster throughout, the quality excellent. It felt extremely smooth and warm to the touch.

In the letter, Yan Shen's mother said she had obtained this when she was young. She told Yan Shen that if one day he found a girl he liked, he should give this jade to her.

Yan Shen rubbed the jade in his hand a couple times and asked Su Duan: "Make it into a pendant?"

However, Su Duan didn't really want it. This little weed had picked up a bunch of bad human habits, overthinking to the heavens. Naturally, he also didn't want anything from the person who had caused his partner psychological issues, subconsciously rejecting it.

Hugging the photo album he had grabbed from Yan Shen's hands, Su Duan thought for a bit and tactfully said with his best effort: "I want something you give me personally."

Yan Shen had just casually asked and didn't necessarily mean to give him something his mother had left behind.

It wasn't because he didn't value Su Duan, but rather he didn't care that much about the pendant's original owner.

Some feelings, once broken, are broken. If you miss the chance to mend them, even if there are later sighs of regret, in the end you can never return to when they were whole.

"Then let's not make it."

Since Su Duan didn't want it, Yan Shen put the jade pendant and the miscellaneous items back in the box, planning to store it in the bank's safety deposit box later.

As if thinking of something amusing, a smile appeared on his face, his brows and eyes relaxing. He said: "Alright, let's go pick out a stone tomorrow. I'll have a little hamster made for you to wear around your neck."

The image of a little hamster wearing an even smaller hamster made him unable to hold back a grin.

But Su Duan didn't understand what he was smiling about. He wondered if Yan Shen liked hamsters and wanted to raise one?

Should he buy one as a gift for Yan Shen? Perhaps it could lift his mood.

He didn't have particularly refined requirements for things like jewelry. He liked anything Yan Shen gave him. So he quickly stopped fretting and obediently said: "Okay."