Day: January 1, 2023

Chapter 41

       Chen Yuncheng wanted to talk and persuade Ning Junyan but ended up getting persuaded instead.

       It wasn’t until he was lying on the bed in the guest room with the lights off that Chen Yuncheng still couldn’t sleep for a long time. He put his hands behind his head and wondered if Ning Junyan had gotten to a dead end. Perhaps it was because the experience of being together when they were young was too precious to them, or perhaps their separation was too sudden and unacceptable, so Ning Junyan still couldn’t let it go after so many years.

       Chen Yuncheng couldn’t quite figure it out. The relationship between people were too complicated, sometimes he couldn’t even figure out what he was thinking himself, and it was really too difficult to figure out what kind of thoughts Ning Junyan has.

       Because he had slept so late at night, Chen Yuncheng woke up a little later the next morning than yesterday.

       When he came out of his room after changing his clothes, he heard noises coming from the kitchen and walked over to see Ning Junyan frying an egg.

       Ning Junyan wore an apron over the sweater, held a spatula in his hand, and stared solemnly at the fried egg in the pan as he prepared to turn it over.

       When he heard Chen Yuncheng’s footsteps, Ning Junyan turned his head and said to him, “Just give me a second.”

       Chen Yuncheng said softly, “Huh?”

       Ning Junyan waited until the eggs were almost fried, turned off the fire and put down the spatula, and went to the bathroom with Chen Yuncheng. He helped him wring out the hot towel and handed it to him, before going back to the kitchen to continue preparing breakfast.

       The breakfast on the table was quite simple. Ning Junyan fried eggs, heated milk, toasted a few slices of bread bought from the supermarket last night and added a small saucer of jam.

       Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan sat down face to face.

       Ning Junyan said, “Are you used to eating these?”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded.

       Ning Junyan said, “If you are not used to eating these, I can buy you steamed buns or cook porridge or noodles for you.”

       Chen Yuncheng quickly said, “I’m not used to it, but I can eat anything.”

       Ning Junyan’s tone was very gentle, “Then you can switch to something else.”

       Chen Yuncheng grabbed a piece of bread with his hand, brought it to his mouth and gnawed, not knowing what to say.

       After breakfast, Chen Yuncheng watched Ning Junyan tidy up the table and stood up to help him tidy up. He insisted on taking the bowl to the kitchen, and washing them with gloves on.

       When he came out, Ning Junyan picked up a key and an access control card and put them on the dining table, saying, “This is the key to the house.”

       “Huh?” Chen Yuncheng didn’t reach for it.

       Ning Junyan was about to go out, he picked up his coat and put it on, and said to Chen Yuncheng, “I’m on duty tonight.”

       Chen Yuncheng suddenly realised that Ning Junyan was a doctor, and he would often work night shifts, which meant that he would live alone at Ning Junyan’s house tonight.

       “Won’t it be inconvenient?” Chen Yuncheng asked subconsciously.

       Ning Junyan said, “What’s the inconvenience?”

       He originally supposed to just stay for a short time, yet the owner was not at home1It’s considered somewhat unethical for the guest to stay in the host house when the owner is not at home, Chen Yuncheng thought so in his heart, but he didn’t say it out loud.

       Ning Junyan picked up the key on the dining table, grabbed Chen Yuncheng’s wrist, put it in his hand, and said, “You can remove the gauze at night and call me if you still find it inconvenient.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked down at his hands, “It should be fine.” After he said that, he couldn’t help but say, “You can’t come back even if I call you, right?”

       Ning Junyan told him, “You can come to the hospital. It’s not far from here.”

       Chen Yuncheng raised his head and smiled at him, “It will be fine.”

       In the morning, Chen Yuncheng went back to the store first. He had an appointment with the supplier to count the returned goods.

       The supplier drove over in a van, and today even the boss came in person. The boss, a middle-aged man, sat in Chen Yuncheng’s shop smoking a cigarette and chatting with Chen Yuncheng while watching the inventory.

       The boss said that if it weren’t for the fact that Chen Yuncheng was a nice person and they had been doing business with each other for the past two years without problems, he wouldn’t let anyone to pick up goods.

       Chen Yuncheng stood next to a small worker, watching him count and record, and said with a smile, “Thank you, Sun ge.”

       Boss Sun waved his hand and asked Chen Yuncheng, “What are your plans for the future?”

       Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “I haven’t figured it out yet, do you have a suitable job to introduce to me?”

       Boss Sun seemed to remember something suddenly. He put an arm on the counter and said, “I have a cousin whose family looks after the agriculture tourism back home. He e only has one daughter and wants to find a son-in-law to help with the agritourism business.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “Do you think I’m suitable?”

       Boss Sun said, “I think you are suitable. Don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a son-in-law, my cousin’s niece isn’t too old either. If you get married, and have two children, one will take your surname and one will take hers. My cousin’s agritourism business is also quite good, there’s only one daughter anyway, it’s all yours in the future.”

       Chen Yuncheng smiled and shook his head.

       Boss Sun asked him, “Why not? Do you have a girlfriend?”

       Chen Yuncheng still shook his head.

       Boss Sun said, “That’s right, you always have to find a girlfriend to marry, why don’t you go and meet that niece of mine and maybe you’ll be satisfied?”

       Chen Yuncheng heard the words and said, “I’m not ready to get married yet.”

       “What’s there to prepare for?” Boss Sun smoked a cigarette to the end, “The agritourism over there is waiting for you to move in with your bags. What do you need to prepare? Mental preparation, huh? A man who is almost thirty should be realistic and not be impractical.”

       Chen Yuncheng just smiled at him.

       After checking the goods, Boss Sun said to Chen Yuncheng when he left with the car, “I know you are good-looking, and it’s normal to have more ideas, but at this age, you can really think about it. How many Ms.Perfect2rich, beautiful, and a woman with fair complexion look for poor boys?”

       Chen Yuncheng put one hand on the edge of the car window, and smiled at Boss Sun, “Take care, Sun ge.”

       Boss Sun said, “Call me when you’ve figured it out.”

       Chen Yuncheng nodded, “No problem.”

       He took two steps back and watched the car leave, feeling a little dazed. When Boss Sun mentioned Ms.Perfect just now, he immediately thought of Ning Junyan and then felt embarrassed by his own thoughts. He raised his hand to ruffle his hair which had not been properly groomed.

       In the afternoon, Chen Yuncheng also packed all of his personal belongings in the inner room and put them in a suitcase, planning to take them to Ning Junyan’s side for the time being, and then find a suitable place to live later.

       He came out of the store, put the suitcase on the side, and when he turned around and closed the shutter door, he felt as if someone was looking at him from across the street. He looked back, but saw that no one was looking at him, so he locked the door and walked towards the underground station.

       In the evening, Chen Yuncheng ate alone and kept it simple. He went straight to the hospital for a fast food meal nearby, and then planned to visit Zhou Yan’s child.

       He bought some snacks and milk and brought them to Gu Yaojia.

       Gu Yaojia’s emotions had calmed down and sat on the edge of the hospital bed with Chen Yuncheng and said, “The doctor said that we still need to observe, and there was no way to discharge her from the hospital for the time being.”

       Ever since Zhou Yan disappeared, Gu Yaojia had been unable to leave the hospital by herself. She could only use a basin to store hot water to bathe and wash her hair in the ward bathroom. She only changes her clothes after a long time, and her clothes were only changed once in a while, following the example of the families of other long-term inpatients, who hung out their underwear directly in the hospital stairwell.

       For such a young girl, this kind of life was too hard for her.

       Gu Yaojia looked at Chen Yuncheng and suddenly said, “Cheng ge, thank you for coming to see me, today is my twentieth birthday.”

       Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment, “Today? Why didn’t you say it earlier, I didn’t even buy a gift.”

       Gu Yaojia smiled, “It’s nothing, it’s good that you came to see us.”

       Chen Yuncheng asked her, “Would you like to go back and have a rest, and I will help you look after the child today?”

       Gu Yaojia shook her head, “No need, I’m used to it.” She was silent for a while and asked, “Cheng ge, do you think I can still wait until Zhou Yan comes back?”

       “What’s wrong?” Chen Yuncheng wondered why she said such words suddenly.

       Gu Yaojia glanced at the door, bent down close to Chen Yuncheng’s ear, and whispered, “The police came to look for me twice today, and a man of the family member of the child in the hospital bed in the hallway outside the door came here today. I always feel that he is spying on us. Cheng ge, what kind of trouble did Zhou Yan cause? Is there something else you’re hiding from me?”

       Chen Yuncheng frowned slightly. He subconsciously glanced at the door of the room, from his spot but he couldn’t see the hospital bed in the corridor outside. He said to Gu Yaojia, “It’s alright, don’t worry too much.”

       When he came out of the ward, Chen Yuncheng saw the hospital bed next to the door. A little girl was lying on the bed. Her mother was sitting by the bed and chatting with her. There was a man beside the bed. They seemed like a family. But the man and the little girl hadn’t communicated with each other, and when they saw Chen Yuncheng coming out, they even looked up at him.

       When Chen Yuncheng was about to reach the lift door, his mobile phone suddenly rang. He stopped, took the mobile phone out of his coat pocket, and saw that it was Ning Junyan calling.

       At the same time as the phone was connected, the door of the elevator in front also opened. Because it was an elevator that was going up, Chen Yuncheng was not in a hurry but stood on the spot and whispered to Ning Junyan, “Hello?”

       Ning Junyan asked him, “Have you eaten yet?”

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t answer. He saw a man standing inside the elevator, wearing a mask and a hat covering most of his face, but Chen Yuncheng was too familiar with him. Just by looking at his figure and the eyes that were mostly covered by the hat, he knew that he was Zhou Yan.

       Zhou Yan, who was about to come out also saw Chen Yuncheng. He panicked instantly and hurriedly pressed the elevator closing button with his hands.

       Chen Yuncheng strode over, and Ning Junyan’s voice came over the phone, “Why aren’t you talking?”

       “I’ll talk to you later,” Chen Yuncheng hung up the phone, and when he walked quickly to the front of the elevator, the elevator door was already closed, and the elevator continued to ascend to the upper floors.


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Chapter 40

       Chen Yuncheng felt a little discouraged the moment he arrived at the door of Ning Junyan’s bedroom. He hesitated for a moment, raised his hand and knocked on the door lightly, and thought that if Ning Junyan had already fallen asleep, he would not talk about it today.

       In the end, he only knocked on the door twice when he heard Ning Junyan’s voice coming from inside, saying to him, “Please come in.”

       Chen Yuncheng twisted the door handle, opened the door a little, and saw that there was only a small desk lamp lit on in the room, and Ning Junyan was sitting against the head of the bed with a thick book spread out on his knee.

       “Am I bothering you?” Chen Yuncheng asked.

       Ning Junyan looked at him and said, “Not bothering, come in.”

       Chen Yuncheng walked in, stood by the bed and said to Ning Junyan, “I have something to tell you.”

       Ning Junyan closed the book and put it aside, and said to him, “Sit down and talk.”

       Chen Yuncheng originally hoped that Ning Junyan would go to the living room with him to sit down and talk, but when he saw that Ning Junyan had no intention of getting up from the bed, he had to sit down beside the bed and softly called his name: “Junyan.”

       Ning Junyan said, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

       Sitting sideways on the edge of the bed was not a convenient position, hesitated for a moment and turned around to face Ning Junyan as he sat cross-legged on the bed.

       His eyes involuntarily fell on the book beside Ning Junyan and found that it was a book in English, and he could barely understand a single word of the terms on it.

       Ning Junyan followed his gaze and placed one hand on the book’s cover, asking him, “Can’t sleep? Do you want me to read to you?”

       Chen Yuncheng laughed, “I can’t understand even if you read it, is it just the right amount for hypnosis?”

       Ning Junyan tapped his long fingers on the hard bookcase and thought for a while before saying, “Want to read comics?”

       When Chen Yuncheng heard the word ‘comic’, he remembered the book ‘Bewitching Treasure’. He tried to suppress his shame and didn’t raise his hand to cover his face as he said, “No, I’m almost thirty, and I’m no longer interested in comics.”

       Ning Junyan said “oh” and asked him, “Then what are you interested in?”

       Chen Yuncheng rarely heard this question. He used to have so many friends that everyone would drink and chat together, but almost no one asked him what he was interested in.

       When he thought about it, it seemed that there was nothing he was particularly interested in, especially after he left school and went to work. He first set himself a goal of saving money and then worked hard to make money. So far, his biggest goal was to return the money to Ning Junyan as soon as possible.

       “I don’t know either,” Chen Yuncheng said. “I’m not particularly interested in anything.”

       Ning Junyan nodded, “I’m not particularly interested in anything either.”

       Chen Yuncheng was a little surprised to hear that, “Aren’t you interested in your work?”

       Ning Junyan said, “Work is work. You choose one thing and do it to the best of your ability. You don’t necessarily need to be interested.” He paused for a while, “But that’s what I thought before I met you.”

       Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment; his heart began to beat gradually and fiercely, he wanted to stop Ning Junyan from continuing to speak, but at this time, he couldn’t say anything when he looked at Ning Junyan.

       Ning Junyan said, “After seeing you again, I realised that I wasn’t really uninterested in anything.”

       Chen Yuncheng turned his eyes away as he said again, “Junyan.”

       Ning Junyan said, “That’s the second time you’ve called me by my given name.”

       Chen Yuncheng took a deep breath and finally said, “You said you wouldn’t let me leave unless you agreed, have you thought about what would happen to us in the end?”

       Ning Junyan said, “What about?”

       Chen Yuncheng lowered his head and looked at his coiled-up knees resting right on the edge of Ning Junyan’s thin quilt as he said, “I remember when I was little, and your parents came to take you away, I actually wished you wouldn’t go. At that time, I felt like you were my only family.” These were words that Chen Yuncheng had never said to anyone else.

       He still remembered that after Ning Junyan was taken away, he sat alone on the bench of the police station. He wanted to cry, but he held back. When someone came to talk to him, he also tried to make himself look good for fear that others would dislike him.

       At this time, Ning Junyan sat up straight; he reached out to Chen Yunchen’s hand and gently held his hand as if he was afraid of touching Chen Yuncheng’s wound. Ning Junyan only held his fingers that were sticking out from the edge of the gauze.

       Chen Yuncheng didn’t break free, and at this moment, they seemed to return to the moment when they parted in their teens.

       “But,” Chen Yuncheng continued after a long time, “I know you have to go back with your parents. I’m in no position to keep you, you have your own life.” 

       Ning Junyan’s voice was low, “You don’t think I’m in a position to keep you around now?”

       Chen Yuncheng shook his head, “That’s not what I meant. I just want to say that we are not children anymore. Even if we are brothers, we can’t always live together when we grow up, we will always have our own families.”

       Ning Junyan asked him, “Are you going to?”

       Chen Yuncheng said, “I don’t necessarily will, but I know you will have one. You are so good, I don’t know how many equally good girls want to marry you.”

       Ning Junyan nodded. He still held Chen Yuncheng’s finger and said, “Is that what you think?”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him, “I hope you have a good life.”

       Ning Junyan asked Chen Yuncheng, “So are you having a good life now?”

       Chen Yuncheng never cared about a good life, but he didn’t feel that he had a bad life. His life was already destined to go on like this, and there was no point in feeling sorry for himself. He told Ning Junyan and also himself, “I feel fine.”

       Ning Junyan said, “I hope you have a good life too.” After he said that, he smiled without warning and raised Chen Yuncheng’s hand to gently touch his chest, “But I can’t help myself. Even if you don’t have a good life, what if I don’t want you to leave?”

       Chen Yuncheng was stunned.

       The smile on Ning Junyan’s face disappeared, and he looked at Chen Yuncheng intently, “Chen Yuncheng, I have tried my best to restrain myself. I have been giving you time, do you understand?”

       Chen Yuncheng’s heart trembled, and he wanted to pull his fingers out of Ning Junyan’s hand.

       “No,” Ning Junyan held his hand even tighter instead, “I don’t want to hurt you; you’ll be in pain. You asked me if I had thought about what would happen in the future. Why haven’t I thought about it? I’ve been thinking about it since the day I saw you again, sometimes so much that my head hurts. I’ve thought about it for a long time; our future is that you stay by my side and don’t leave even half a step without my consent.”

       “Ning Junyan—” Chen Yuncheng felt his voice was a little unsteady when he heard it.

       Ning Junyan lifted his other hand that was at his side and pointed to his head, “This is where I was injured as a child, you must still remember.”

       Chen Yuncheng watched his movements and recalled the injury on his head when he first saw him.

       Ning Junyan said, “Maybe it’s still not quite normal to this day. It was only the moment I saw you that I got so excited and even regretted letting go of the hand that was holding you. If I hadn’t let go, would we have been separated for so long?”

       Chen Yuncheng’s heart was churning, and many emotions rushed up together.

       Ning Junyan took his hand at this moment, put it on his lips and kissed it lightly, and said, “So stop saying you want to leave. You can’t leave.”

       For a moment, Chen Yuncheng’s hair stood on end because of his words, but in the next moment, they were washed away by more and more complicated emotions. His heart was conflicted and tormented, not knowing what to do.

       They sat face to face on the bed and didn’t speak for a long time.

       Ning Junyan’s expression was very calm, and he even reached out to brush the hair that fell from Chen Yuncheng’s forehead and then said to him, “Don’t be afraid. I will give you time.”

       Chen Yuncheng looked at him.

       Ning Junyan said, “I can’t bear to hurt you.”

       Chen Yuncheng was silent for a while and asked, “Does your head still hurt now?”

       Ning Junyan replied, “Occasionally.”

       Chen Yuncheng sighed softly, raised his hand and touched the top of Ning Junyan’s head gently, calling out to him like he had done when he was a child, “Yanyan.”

       Ning Junyan lowered his gaze. His eyelashes trembled slightly as he replied, “En.”


Support the author by buying author other works and/or giving some jades here~
(note that there are several guides to maneuver in gongzicp or you can just google translate the page. Payment can be made with Apple pay method)

We have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here ^^

Check out bean’s new novel here!
and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
Check out the other hoeni’s work here~
Check out the angst novel I co-tl with my friend here~

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~

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