“Have you eaten yet?” Li Zhenran asked him.
At that moment, Li Zhenruo decided to tidy up his messy emotions. He touched Li Zhenran’s hand, held it, and said, “Not yet, how is your father?”
Li Zhenran took his hand to make him stand up, sat on the office chair by himself, and then held Li Zhenruo’s waist and let him sit on top of him.
This was a bit awkward, well, it was not too awkward, since Li Zhenruo has long been used to sitting on Li Zhenran’s lap.
As Li Zhenran rubbed Li Zhenruo’s side waist lightly, he said, “It’s nothing, he’s going to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation.”
Li Zhenruo asked him, “Then why did you come back?”
Li Zhenran said, “The hospital has nurses, so I don’t need to watch the night. Eldest brother and the third child have already rushed over.”
Li Zhenruo said, “That’s good.”
Li Zhenran suddenly chuckled, and Li Zhenruo turned to look at him inexplicably.
Li Zhenran tilted his head with a smile in his eyes, “My dad said that the boy who rescued him in the elevator pretended not to know him at first, but when he saw him sick, he immediately knew who he was.”
Li Zhenruo pretended to be bashful, “It’s my fault for being a little nervous about being in the elevator with him. I’m afraid he would suspect our relationship.”
“What’s our relationship?” Li Zhenran held his hand tightly.
Li Zhenruo shook his upper body gently, “Isn’t it the relationship between the owner and the pet?”
This sounded like it had a double meaning, and Li Zhenruo knew that it would definitely be an answer that would satisfy Li Zhenran.
Sure enough, Li Zhenran let out an “um—” sound. “You know, there are some things the owner will worry about. As a pet, all you have to do is to make the owner happy, right?”
Li Zhenruo wanted to roll his eyes, but his mouth was exceptionally smart, “I know, Master.”
Li Zhenran reached out and pulled the collar on his neck, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to dinner, what do you want to eat?”
Li Zhenruo replied, “Eat whatever you want, as long as it’s not cat food.”
At this time, the driver had been sent back by Li Zhenran, and when he came out of the company, Li Zhenran personally drove the car and took Li Zhenruo around on the street without a destination.
Later, when he saw a long queue at a small restaurant on the side of the road, Li Zhenruo pointed out, “Let’s eat that.”
Li Zhenran didn’t object. He found a place to park the car nearby and walked over to eat with Li Zhenruo.
Before getting out of the car, Li Zhenran took off his suit jacket and tie, made an opening on his collar, and rolled up his sleeves. In summer, the evening temperature was nearly 30 degrees. Li Zhenran usually stayed in places with air conditioning. Suddenly walking on the street like this made it look like he was dressing too thick.
And Li Zhenruo dressed casually in a T-shirt and sweatpants, like a student.
When Li Zhenran rolled up his sleeves, Li Zhenruo suddenly felt that he was terribly sexy.
“Let’s go,” Li Zhenran patted Li Zhenruo’s head, opened the door and got out of the car.
It was just a quick glance just now. Li Zhenruo only saw a lot of people lining up outside the restaurant and didn’t know what they were eating. Only then did he come to know that it was a shop selling spicy crayfish.
They took a number and asked the restaurant waiter. They knew it would take almost half an hour to line up.
Li Zhenruo was a little hesitant because it was too hot outside, but Li Zhenran didn’t care and sat down on the small stool.
It was a strange feeling. If it were in the past, even if he were killed, he wouldn’t believe that one day he and Li Zhenran would sit in line outside a small roadside restaurant, waiting for a meal of crayfish. Even if it was really delicious, Li Zhenruo would only ask someone to buy it for him, instead of sitting here stupidly queuing up, let alone with Li Zhenran.
Suddenly, Li Zhenran reached out and held the hand he had placed beside him.
Li Zhenruo could not help but tense up for a moment and tried to see if anyone around noticed. At this time, the people in line were either chatting or looking down at their mobile phones. No one paid attention to them anyway. After a little twitching, he took Li Zhenran’s hand back as a matter of course.
The two of them didn’t speak, they sat on the side of the road and held hands quietly. Even if it was their first love, Li Zhenruo had never tried to be so clingy with others.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Li Zhenruo saw a young man and woman pass by in front of him. They looked like they were dressed like college students.
When he passed in front of him, the man stopped in his tracks, and the long-haired girl continued to walk forward to find the waiter in the restaurant to line up.
The boy stood still, turned his head and looked at Li Zhenruo.
Li Zhenruo was stunned and looked at the boy, only to see that he was tall and thin, with fair and handsome features. The boy was wearing a plaid shirt and denim trousers and looked very refined.
The boy looked at Li Zhenruo’s eyes with some doubt, but Li Zhenruo felt his heart beating violently at this moment. He looked at the boy and almost couldn’t help standing up, but when he moved, he felt that Li Zhenran was holding his palm with the strength increased slightly.
Li Zhenruo turned to look at Li Zhenran and saw that Li Zhenran was frowning at him before he snapped out of it.
At this time, the girl who was with the boy got the number, went back to him and joked with him, took his hand and walked to the vacant seat next to him to sit down and wait for the number.
The two left Li Zhenruo’s sight, and he heard Li Zhenran ask him in his ear, “Do you know him?”
Li Zhenruo shook his head a little dazedly.
Li Zhenran said, “Then what are you looking at?”
He felt that Li Zhenran’s tone was a bit unhappy and quickly said, “I just think…… He might not be human.”
Li Zhenruo said this nonsense casually in order to divert Li Zhenran’s attention. It was a bit strange to tell the truth just now. The reason for the rapid heartbeat was that Li Zhenruo felt an indescribable attraction. At that moment, he even thought he was in love with the boy at first sight.
But when he thought about it carefully, there was something wrong. The attraction was not so much a mental attraction, but a physical one, completely out of the control of his own thinking. Li Zhenruo thought it was strange, so he decided to remember this matter and consult Xia Hongshen when he had time.
And Li Zhenran was successfully distracted by him, “Not a human?”
Li Zhenruo nodded, “I guess he’s my kind. You should be more careful next time you see him.”
Li Zhenran had no idea in his mind, so he ignored his words.
After waiting in line for half an hour, it was finally the two of them’s turn.
Li Zhenran sat down and read the menu for a while, then raised his head and asked the waiter, “Can cats eat crayfish?”
Li Zhenruo was wiping the table with a piece of paper, and looked at him for a while, and saw that he had a serious look on his face.
The waiter froze and said, “Ah, can it? Don’t cats like to eat fish? Fish and shrimp should be similar, right?”
Li Zhenran thought about it for a while and seemed to think it made sense, so he said, “One pound each for fried and steamed.”
The two had a full meal outside, and then the young man and woman came in and happened to be sitting at the table behind Li Zhenran. As soon as Li Zhenruo looked up, he found that the boy on the opposite side was looking at him. When he looked over, the boy didn’t turn his eyes away and just stared straight at him.
Later, Li Zhenruo didn’t dare to stare at him for too long, for fear that Li Zhenran would notice and it would make him unhappy.
As they returned to Li’s house in the evening, Li Zhenruo hid in the car and changed back to the appearance of a cat. The clothes that fell off were folded by Li Zhenran and brought back upstairs for him.
Li Zhenruo followed Li Zhenran into the living room and saw Wen Chun talking to Wang Ma in the dining room.
When Wang Ma saw Li Zhenran, she stood up from her chair and said, “Did you take your father to the hospital today?”
Li Zhenran nodded.
Li Zhenruo stuck his head out from his leg and saw Wang Ma also look worried.
“How did he have an attack in the elevator?” Wang Ma asked with a sigh.
Li Zhenran said, “It’s probably due to the elevator malfunction. It’s already fine, don’t worry, Wang Ma.”
“Oh dear—” Wang Ma shook her head and said, “As you get older, your health just gets worse and worse.” He didn’t know if she was talking about Li Jianglin, or herself.
Wen Chun was sitting by the dining table with a water glass in her hand, but she also stood up and asked Li Zhenran, “I heard that the person who gave dad first aid in the elevator today was your new assistant?”
Li Zhenran nodded, “Yes.”
Wen Chun said strangely, “How come I haven’t seen him before?”
Li Zhenran said to her, “The new one is still on probation.”
Wen Chun replied, “Oh…” After she finished speaking, she noticed the cat following Li Zhenran’s legs, smiled and waved, “Dumpling.”
Li Zhenruo wanted to raise his paw to wave at her, he half raised his paws and felt it was not quite right. So he grabbed Li Zhenran’s trouser leg, pretended to be afraid, and pressed his face to Li Zhenran’s leg.
Li Zhenran glanced at him and said to Wen Chun and the others, “I’ll go upstairs first.”
Li Zhenruo sprang out from his legs and ran upstairs first.
Early the next morning, Li Zhenruo turned over beside Li Zhenran’s bed and didn’t notice that his cat’s paw hit Li Zhenran’s face and woke him up.
Li Zhenran opened his eyes and grabbed his paw. He was originally about to throw Li Zhenruo off the bed, but he just put Li Zhenruo’s paw on his lips and kissed it lightly.
Li Zhenruo opened his eyes inexplicably, looked at him with sleepy eyes, and scratched his eyes with his paws.
Li Zhenran sat up and called the hospital to ask about Li Jianglin’s condition.
Li Zhenruo turned over and got out of bed to go to the bathroom. When he came out, he had become a naked young man. He walked to the bed and sat cross-legged, yawned, and asked, “Is dad all right?”
Li Zhenran threw the phone aside, leaned his body back against the bed, looked at him and said, “You called him so affectionately?”
Li Zhenruo was still half awake, and when he heard Li Zhenran’s question, he quickly got up and rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Li Zhenran’s neck, almost touching his lips and saying, “Then what should I call him? Grandpa?”
Li Zhenran put one arm around his waist and rubbed lightly, “Then aren’t you going to call me dad?”
Inside his heart, Li Zhenruo was thinking, Li Zhenran you are so shameless, I really didn’t see this before! But his mouth said, “What are you talking about!” After that, he kissed Li Zhenran’s lips.
An inexplicable conversation developed into a passionate scene early in the morning. Li Zhenruo felt that he should be cautious and not make Li Zhenran suspect him. Otherwise, Li Zhenran wouldn’t always be able to be fooled, and he would definitely doubt him over time.
Maybe Li Zhenran had suspected him for a long time, but his thoughts were too deep to let Li Zhenruo see it.
Li Zhenruo was panting slightly, his sweaty head resting on Li Zhenran’s shoulders, his arms wrapped around his waist.
Li Zhenran said suddenly, “Dad asked you to come over.”
Li Zhenruo wanted to ask “What did Dad call me over for?”, but he knew that he couldn’t say it without saying the word “Dad”. With a knot in his head, he said, “What did Grandpa tell me to do?”
Li Zhenran laughed, his chest shook, and he pinched Li Zhenruo’s face and saying, “He wants to see the grandson.”
No matter how thick-skinned Li Zhenruo was, he couldn’t help being a little ashamed. He scratched his face and said, “What if he suspects us?”
“What can we do?” Li Zhenran said, “It doesn’t matter.”
Li Zhenruo looked up at his expression and saw that Li Zhenran’s expression was calm as if he really didn’t care if Li Jianglin knew that his son was entangled with a man.
Li Zhenran had already got up at this time, patted Li Zhenruo’s head, and said, “Son, go take a bath, and follow me to the hospital later.”
Li Zhenruo knew that his temporary slip of the tongue would definitely be made fun of by Li Zhenran for a long time. He wanted to go out and call Li Zhenran dad, but after all, he couldn’t say it, because it reminded him of Li Jianglin, so he could only endure the sulking.
When he went out with Li Zhenran in the morning, he was still a cat, but when he arrived at the hospital, he became a handsome young man. But it was a pity that the clothes were the same as yesterday.
“You left all your clothes in the company,” Li Zhenran said impatiently, “My dad can see if you are wearing my clothes.”
Li Zhenruo took the T-shirt and smelled it, and could still smell the smell of crayfish.
Li Jianglin lives in the VIP ward and was guarded by a dedicated nurse and a doctor who was directly in charge of his hospital bed. It didn’t matter even if there was no family to accompany him.
Li Zhenran knocked on the door first, then twisted the door handle to go in.
Li Zhenruo stood by the door and did not follow up immediately, but quietly leaned against the wall to wait for him. After a while, Li Zhenran opened the door and said to him, “Come in.”
Li Jianglin had already woken up and leaned on the bed. He seemed to be in good spirits.
Li Zhenruo walked in, bowed respectfully and greeted, “Mr. Li.”
Li Jianglin looked at him for a moment, then smiled and said, “Are you Zhenran’s assistant?”
Li Zhenruo said quickly, “I’m still in the internship period, and I haven’t officially become the second assistant.”
Li Jianglin asked him, “What’s your name?”
Li Zhenruo glanced at Li Zhenran and said, “Jason.”
Li Jianglin said, “What about your Chinese name?”
Li Zhenruo took a deep breath, hating himself for not being able to rush over to strangle Li Zhenran. He gritted his teeth and said, “My name is Li Tuan1he deliberately didn’t say Tuanzi(dumpling) to avoid suspicion..”
Li Jianglin couldn’t help frowning slightly and then asked, “Which Tuan2he’s asking about what Chinese word is his Tuan. See note below.?”
Li Zhenruo said, “Tuan as in regiment.”
Li Jianglin laughed when he heard the words, “Does your family want you to be a soldier?”
Li Zhenruo thought to himself, thank God that Li Jianglin didn’t think of a cat called Tuanzi in the Li family, and replied with a wry smile, “Yes, my dad didn’t tell me.”
Li Jianglin looked at him for a while, “How old are you? You look quite young.”
Li Zhenruo said, “I am nineteen years old.”
Li Jianglin heard the words and said, “Looks like a high school student. Why did you work at the age of nineteen and didn’t go to college?”
The more he talked, the more issues were exposed. Li Zhenruo was unable to make up an identity story out of the blue, he was afraid that the story would be too careless, and Li Jianglin would know that there was a problem after checking.
So if you tell a lie, you need to keep lying to make up the lie, which was really painful.
Li Zhenran answered at this time, “He is doing an internship while going to university, and it is just summer vacation now.”
Li Jianglin nodded. It was hard to say whether he believed it or not. He propped himself on the mattress with his hands and wanted to change to a more comfortable position.
Li Zhenruo hurriedly stepped forward to help him.
Li Jianglin patted the back of his hand to show his thanks and then motioned for Li Zhenran and Li Zhenruo to both sit down, since there was no need to stand while talking.
When Li Zhenran sat down beside the bed, he said, “Jason is Luo Fei’s cousin.”
Li Zhenruo bit his lip and pretended to be a little embarrassed.
Li Jianglin nodded with understanding and said, “Is that so.” Then he asked Li Zhenruo, “If you know me, why did you pretend not to know me in the elevator at first?”
Li Zhenruo’s fingers were crossed and he squeezed them nervously, “When I rushed in, I thought it was you but I weren’t sure. And after hesitating, I was embarrassed to speak, so I pretended not to know you. Didn’t I worry about you afterwards?”
As Li Jianglin heard him say so, he smile and shook his head.
Li Zhenruo asked cautiously, “Old man, is your body okay?”
Li Jianglin said, “It’s nothing, since you are Luo Fei’s cousin, just call me Uncle Li, you don’t need to be so distant.”
Li Zhenruo nodded, coyly afraid to call out.
Li Jianglin asked him again, “How do you know that I have medicine on me?”
Li Zhenruo said, “One of my uncles has a heart attack. He said that he takes medicine with him wherever he goes. So I thought I’d give it a try then, thinking it would be good if I could find it. I hope it has helped you.”
Li Jianglin smiled at him, “You have helped me a lot, thank you, young man.”
Li Zhenruo lowered his head and smiled.
Notes:
This happens a lot to Chinese when they are asking for names. For example, if your name is Zhang, they will ask you which Zhang as in which character is the Zhang is written to know the meaning of their name. In the story, Li Jianglin was asking which Tuan because the character 团 (tuán) can mean several things such as round, lump, ball, regiment, group, and society.
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