ATAFBS Chapter 9

Perhaps because Yu Juan had walked a mountainous path all day yesterday, he felt excessively tired and slept in a daze. It was almost noon by the time he woke up.

Really hungry.

After waking up, Yu Juan only had one thought.

He got up and washed his face, then went into the kitchen intending to boil some noodles.

The hot water had just been boiled when footsteps were heard coming from the stairs. Shortly afterwards, Sun Qibai came in.

There was a box in his hands. There actually wasn’t anything much in it, just some frozen foods and drinks.

There was pretty much nothing nutritious, and their only purpose was to prevent people from starving to death.

Yu Juan pulled out a chair and sat down, not even lifting his eyelids. He didn’t bother paying attention to that person.

Moving the items to the fridge was really noisy, but it didn’t last too long.

Sun Qibai stared at Yu Juan as the latter brought the hot water and poured it into the cup container, then deliberately said, “The Eldest Young Master’s injuries still haven’t gotten better, won’t you be making some for him as well?”

Yu Juan replied impatiently, “Why do you want me to make some for him?”

This was exactly what Sun Qibai wanted to hear. He even raised his voice, hoping that Zhou Huiyue, who was not that far away, could hear. It would make their relationship continue to worsen. “How can the Eldest Young Master be this pitiful… For better or for worse, you two are engaged. To make some for him should be a given…”

Yu Juan lifted his gaze and gave Sun Qibai a cold look, “If you want to cook for him, then you can stay and take care of all his meals.”

Sun Qibai lowered his head and didn’t say anything more. Then, as if the previous conversation had never taken place, he put the box in a corner and directly walked out.

On the right side was the staircase to go downstairs, and on the left was Zhou Huiyue’s room.

Yu Juan saw him go to the left, then heard a casual knocking sound. They exchanged a few sentences in extremely quiet voices. Yu Juan tried his hardest to listen, desperately wanting to hear just what was it that they were talking about, but he wasn’t able to in the end.

A few minutes later, Sun Qibai passed by the kitchen– he really went away this time.

Probably because of the small delay, by the time Yu Juan opened the lid of the cup noodles, the noodles were already soggy, causing him to really lose his appetite.

He forced himself to eat two mouthfuls, but he truly couldn’t continue.

Even if the boiling time wasn’t long, though, he wouldn’t have eaten much either.

Because this type of food was really too greasy.

Yu Juan placed a hand on his stomach and thought that he probably shouldn’t starve himself to death. How about he still tried to prepare a meal anyway?

He had no cooking experience. He had tried to make some dumplings once– they were half-cooked, and he almost threw up after just one bite. This left a huge psychological shadow on him, and he didn’t try to make them anymore.

In this short moment of hesitation, he suddenly heard someone call out his name.

“Yu Juan.”

The sound a wheelchair made was really different from that of a person’s footsteps. Yu Juan carelessly lifted his head and saw Zhou Huiyue coming in.

Having lived here for a few days, it was as if they had unconsciously tried to avoid one another– the majority of the time was spent acting as if the other person didn’t exist, just like two parallel lines not intersecting.

So Yu Juan still felt a bit weird about the fact that Zhou Huiyue had waited for him at the stairs yesterday.

Later, when he thought about it, it might have been because the surroundings were too dangerous being in a remote mountain with a thick forest. Moreover, at present, he hadn’t offended Zhou Huiyue yet. At most, it was like being treated like the children of the wealthy families Zhou Huiyue would run into during his time at school and when he still retained some of his kind personality.

Was there kindness in the protagonist’s personality?

Yu Juan thought about it before deciding to give up answering this question.

There was actually no mention of how Zhou Huiyue was during this period of time. At most, there were the various descriptions of the side characters. However, revenge was normally accompanied by blackening– the protagonist shouldn’t be an exception, right?

The wheelchair rolled forward until it reached the side of the table. Zhou Huiyue stared at the instant noodles on the table, then at the fork tossed aside inside the cup– it was really obvious that he didn’t intend to continue eating.

The amount of instant noodles left over these past few days have been increasing, which also meant that the amount Yu Juan ate was decreasing.

Yu Juan had just stood up when he happened to hear Zhou Huiyue ask, “What do you want to eat?”

He stood there in a daze, then suddenly realised that the person Zhou Huiyue was asking was him.

After his paternal grandparents passed away, Yu Juan, who was still a minor, stubbornly rejected all his relatives and decided to live by himself. When he reached his senior year of high school, he moved to the dormitory in order to save time. At that time, though, the majority of dorms had already been filled, so the teacher arranged for him to stay on the top floor where he lived on his own.

He had never lived with anyone, never asked anyone to do anything, and also disliked it when others would say they’d do something for his sake.

So he replied, “No need.”

The wheelchair moved to obstruct Yu Juan’s path. Zhou Huiyue then said, “The candies are really delicious.”

Yu Juan casually said, “I only bought it in passing.”

Zhou Huiyue learned to understand Yu Juan’s character himself. Yu Juan was prideful, and the things he did wasn’t to earn other people’s gratitude. Rather, if he wanted to do something, then he’d simply do it.

Zhou Huiyue said in a flat tone, “Suppose you were to starve to death here. As your fiancé, it would be regarded as a neglect of my duty.”

“Yu Juan, aren’t your requirements too high?”

It was as if he was questioning Yu Juan’s lack of sincerity.

Yu Juan, “?”

That was true. Since an excuse has been found, why not go with it?

Zhou Huiyue moved in a really dexterous manner. Soon enough, two portions of dumplings were ready. He then pushed one portion until it was in front of Yu Juan.

The preparation time was grasped well, and the dumpling skin wasn’t boiled to a mush.

Yu Juan picked up a piece and observed as Zhou Huiyue’s expression remained the same after eating one. Yu Juan then had to overcome his psychological shadow before being able to take a bite and eat a mouthful.

The dumplings weren’t quite that bad.

Yu Juan thought that a novel’s protagonist indeed had to have basic survival skills. Moreover, this ability could be said to be up to the standard.

As for that one word, “fiancé”, it was obviously ignored.

*

The moment he returned to Zijin Mountain Villa, Sun Qibai immediately wanted to relay to Su Li the matter of Yu Juan going out without missing a single detail.

Su Li sat in front of the dressing table and did the preparations needed to go out as she picked up Sun Qibai’s call, then asked in a casual tone, “What’s the matter?”

Sun Qibai seemed especially honest towards his employer, “Madame, that one young master of the Yu family went out.”

Su Li changed her bracelet, “Oh, Yu Juan? What did he go out for?”

A few days ago, Lu Shuicheng had come to meet her and politely told her that Yu Juan had gone to stay at Zijin Mountain Villa and wouldn’t be back for some time. She then asked her for her opinion.

Su Li didn’t want to agree originally, but she then thought about it again: it was impossible for the Yu family to put all their eggs in one basket and rely on Zhou Huiyue completely when he wasn’t indispensable. The pair of husband and wife would never make such a risky decision. She knew them really well. Not to mention how the current Zhou Huiyue was unable to do anything, even Zhou Heng didn’t talk about his son anymore and only felt that he was losing face. Since things have reached this point, Su Li thought that there was no need to make such trouble. It wouldn’t look good and might make the whole Zhou family lose face instead. And she, as the wife, would also be seen as incompetent due to being unable to resolve household matters. As such, she expressed her approval as well.

The people of Baicheng only knew that Su Li had arranged for Zhou Huiyue to live at the most beloved place of his deceased mother. It sounded really considerate, but they had no idea that the house had long been neglected. And the trip to a distant place Su Li went on every week, which was said to be a visit to Zhou Huiyue, was actually just a vacation.

Moreover, if the news of Yu Juan being sent to care for Zhou Huiyue came out, others will believe that Su Li was able to convince the Yu family to uphold the engagement. It would be seen as her doing her utmost, as doing above and beyond, for Zhou Huiyue, who wasn’t even her biological son.

Sun Qibai, who was already prepared, sent over the recording of the surveillance camera. Then, not caring whether Su Li watched it or not, he said, “It appears the young master had grown bored staying indoors and went out to play in the surroundings. I went to the nearby Anshan Village to inquire, and he had indeed been there. He was holding fresh fruits when he came back.”

“Hm,” Su Li nodded, “He’s still young. To be forced by his mommy to stay in that kind of place, it’s no wonder he’d be bored.”

She didn’t take Yu Juan to heart at all, since he was merely Lu Shuicheng’s puppet.

Sun Qibai followed her words and said, “Young Master Yu’s arrogant and really cannot live there without being bored. From what I observed, he’s also really annoyed with the Eldest Young Master.”

Su Li lowered her head and looked at the jade bracelet on her wrist– she had gone to great lengths to support this household and finally managed to obtain all these, so she wouldn’t allow anyone to destroy it. Her voice was still as indifferent as she asked, “What about him, then?”

The “him” spoken by Su Li could only refer to one person. Zhou Huiyue.

Sun Qibai answered, “His legs are broken, he can’t move. I checked his entire call history and there were a few dial attempts, but all of them went unanswered.”

Su Li had a satisfied smile on her face. “Don’t actually let him do just anything. Otherwise, when the time comes, it’ll be a headache.”

Sun Qibai hoped that Zhou Huiyue could always remain like this, not recovering but also not dying, and stay here forever. This way, he could earn money he would never make in a lifetime and for very little effort.

Su Li lost interest and transferred a sum of money to Sun Qibai. “You’ve worked hard.”

She then hung up.

Su Li turned around and saw that the door was unlocked, and someone was standing right outside.

She waved to that person and said, “Come here.”

The one who pushed the door open and came in was her own son, Zhou Zhi, who was five years younger than Zhou Huiyue.

Zhou Zhi was a really tall senior high-school student who didn’t look like Zhou Huiyue at all. “Mom, were you on the phone with the person taking care of Zhou Huiyue just now?”

Su Li smiled as she nodded. “You don’t have to worry, mom has handled everything well.”

Zhou Zhi, who had guessed correctly, had a sour look on his face. “I wasn’t.”

Su Li looked at him before saying one word at a time, “I know that you aren’t happy from the recent encounter, but what’s the point of coaxing you? The most important thing is that this issue has to be settled.”

Zhou Zhi was dumbfounded, and his face became even more unsightly to look at.

Before Zhou Huiyue really showed up, that person was merely a distant name. It was Zhou Zhi who was the sole heir of the Zhou family. He occasionally watched programs where they’d search for family members, and the majority of the children on there had been kidnapped and sold to places really far away– he didn’t have much pity for them and merely thought that, when the time would come, he could condescendingly give a few things to that so-called brother of his.

He didn’t think Zhou Huiyue would come back so suddenly like this.

Su Li coaxed him by saying, “The doctor said he can’t stand up. Ah-Zhi, he grew up outside and doesn’t know many people. Your father doesn’t even spare him a glance. How can he compare to you, who had been raised by your father himself?”

After Zhou Zhi was born, even though Zhou Heng was busy, Su Li tried every means and went to great lengths to have him participate in every important event of Zhou Zhi’s life.

Nobody would have unnecessary feelings for a plant on the roadside that snapped from the wind and rain unless he had diligently cared for it.

She understood her husband really well. After Zhou Huiyue came back, it was indeed possible that Zhou Heng had wanted to test his ability to see whether he was more suitable to inherit the company or not– but he was like a plant that had already snapped. However, it was Zhou Zhi who was the child Zhou Heng had diligently cared for.

Thinking up to here, Su Li then continued on to say, “He already has no more room to turn things over. Don’t let these trivial matters bother you, it’s more important to study. Your father’s birthday is coming up soon, have you thought well about what gift to give him? You have to be a bit more attentive.”

Zhou Zhi’s mood at this time was really bad.

After the results of the paternity test came out, there has been a lot of gossip and rumors circulating outside. Nonetheless, Zhou Huiyue didn’t officially return since he hadn’t made any thorough preparations yet. There was an anonymous person who sent Zhou Zhi a mail containing Zhou Huiyue’s entire life experience.

When Zhou Zhi had gone to Zhou Huiyue’s company, it just so happened that Zhou Huiyue was getting out of a car. Then, as if Zhou Huiyue could feel someone staring at him, he raised his head to look and saw Zhou Zhi. Less than a second later, he glanced away without the slightest care in the world.

Zhou Huiyue wasn’t someone who needed the things Zhou Zhi could give.

Zhou Zhi’s mind went blank, and his intuition told him that this person would steal everything away from him.

And so, he didn’t attend any of his classes. He inexplicably skipped a lot of his classes during this period of time and hung out with his scoundrel friends. Fortunately, his father wasn’t at home and his mother was willing to cover for him.

However, it was different this time. He no longer had to be anxious and worry about others using him as a contrast, so he really wanted to meet up with Zhou Huiyue.

He wanted to see if the other party, without his company and having lost the use of both of his legs, would still ignore him in such an aloof manner.

Su Li stood up and, towards Zhou Zhi who was comparably taller, placed a hand on his shoulder. “Everything I do is for your sake.”

Zhou Zhi knew that Su Li had taken care of all those things. She sent away that brother of his that he had never met face-to-face to a distant manor and made it so that he could never come back.

Zhou Zhi also knew that his mother didn’t want him to wade through muddy waters, but he was still really impatient and wanted to go to that place. [Wade through muddy waters: Get involved in complicated matters]

The lights in the room were extremely bright, making the jewellery that Su Li had adorned all over her body shine in an incomparably dazzling manner. She really was this household’s most indispensable owner.

She told a lie nobody would suspect.

That lie was said to Zhou Zhi. Su Li only did things for her own sake.

*

Yu Juan spent the entirety of the next day on phone calls to resolve the issue with the express delivery.

The boss of the small shop would periodically go to the city to restock the goods, so Yu Juan gave him a sum of money and asked him to bring back the custom wheelchair. It was a given that it couldn’t get past the surveillance camera at the gates so openly like this since Sun Qibai would definitely come investigate, just like how he did earlier when he found out Yu Juan had gone out yesterday.

Thus, Yu Juan also bought an expensive mountain bike and specially paid extra for a packaging big enough to fit the wheelchair in too so they could be transported together.

It would be really easy to justify the mountain bike’s purpose– if he wanted to stroll around whenever he’d get bored, using a means of transportation would evidently be more convenient compared to just walking.

The only drawback was that Yu Juan didn’t know how to ride a bike.

But it wasn’t a big issue, Yu Juan thought. It couldn’t be that hard to learn.

After taking a bath, Yu Juan lied on the bed and looked through the message history of the group chat.

It has been a long time since he last showed up. That, and the fact that the news Lu Shuicheng had sent out wasn’t about breaking off the engagement, conflicted with Yu Huai’s words. And so, the people in the group chat were extremely confused about what the Yu family wanted to do in the end. Some were even itching to find Yu Juan to ask.

Yu Juan simply acted as if he didn’t see it– he was far away in the mountains and had already lost contact.

These people have already talked a lot in ambiguous terms over the past few days. And, perhaps because they weren’t able to get an answer, the situation grew increasingly worse to the point that they started to directly tag Yu Juan in the group chat.

“Didn’t your brother say you broke off the engagement? What’s happening now?”

“Yu-Er, I heard that you went to look for your fiancé and still haven’t returned. Just how long do you want to stay there for?” [-Er can be put to refer to the second child of a family]

“Hadn’t Zhou Huiyue just gotten into a car accident? You’re giving yourself up for marriage right after graduating?”

“It’s also really pitiful that you’re stuck with such a fiancé. That person might really not be able to stand up again in the future.”

Someone even wanted to make a scene on purpose: “We haven’t seen what Zhou Huiyue looks like yet, why don’t you tell us about him?”

“What’s there to say about a good-for-nothing who can’t even stand up?”

After the excessive flood of messages, Yu Huai came in late and deliberately pretended to stop that person: “That’s enough.”

Everyone thought that Yu Juan, in order to save his own face, would reduce Zhou Huiyue to something worth less than trash.

Yu Juan had no intention to respond to these people at first since he wasn’t affected in the slightest. However, when the topic of the conversation shifted into how much of a trash Zhou Huiyue was, he felt that he had to reply and sent out two words: “Very good.”

Yu Huai held his phone in a daze for a while. He obviously didn’t think Yu Juan would really show up, much less reply with such words.

In his mind, Yu Juan was definitely anxious to get rid of this engagement. He might even come beg him again to ask his mother to let him return home quickly.

Yu Huai was really annoyed with Yu Juan– annoyed that Yu Juan came into his family, annoyed that Yu Juan made him become an older brother, annoyed that Yu Juan insisted on sticking to his side.

Yu Huai asked, “In what way is he good?”

Yu Juan knew that the people in this group chat were all careful to let Yu Huai keep his own face, and the messages they sent were likely done as per his suggestion as well, so he tagged Yu Huai and replied with: “Better than you.”

He said that the fiancé of ten plus years he had never even met, that same fiancé who was lying on the bed with both of his legs unable to move, was better than his own brother.

This was no longer a subtle taunt, but rather a direct confrontation with Yu Huai.

Had it been in the past, nobody would have even been bold enough to think about this kind of thing.

In a split second, the other people in the group chat all fell silent and didn’t send any more messages.

Yu Juan raised his eyebrows, then clicked to exit the group chat.

Yu Zhao and Lu Shuicheng were people he had no choice but to deal with, but he didn’t really feel like spending that much effort on Yu Huai. It was an unnecessary inconvenience.

He would just run away once the school term started, anyway.

Meanwhile, Yu Huai didn’t even have time to send a reply before noticing that Yu Juan had left the group chat. Then, just as he wanted to find Yu Juan to settle this matter, he found out that he had been blocked.

He let out a string of profanities and thought that Yu Juan had truly grown up and become independent, to be so capable that he dared to do such a thing.

Yu Juan didn’t turn off his phone, intending to search for things related to college– this was, after all, not his original world, so he still had to think about his college entrance exams application once again.

Just as he clicked on a list, the room suddenly darkened. Right afterwards, there was complete darkness.

Yu Juan extended his hand and fumbled around until he found the light switch, then repeatedly pressed it a few times to no avail.

It was a power outage.

Yu Juan wasn’t actually afraid of the dark, rather, it was that the heat was too much to handle after the AC stopped working.

The reason behind the power outage wasn’t known. If it was an issue with the manor’s internal circuit, he’d still have to wait until tomorrow to ask Sun Qibai to come repair it. If it was an issue with the power system of the whole area, it was even more impossible for there to be an emergency repair that quickly in such a remote mountain village.

No matter in what way he thought about it, the power wouldn’t come back right away.

Yu Juan was in a daze for a moment, then got up from the bed and wore his slippers before walking out.

Being in the corridor was a bit better. It should be more pleasantly cool outdoors, but there would definitely be bugs as well. Moreover, since he would be unable to see, there might be some that would directly crawl up his body…

Once he thought of such a scene, Yu Juan felt his scalp tingle– going out was impossible.

Following the corridor, Yu Juan walked until he reached the kitchen. He then opened the fridge, intending to take a bottle of water to drink.

What he grabbed, however, turned out to be a can of beer…

Even though Yu Juan hesitated for a moment, he still didn’t let go.

It hasn’t been long since he became an adult, and he had never drank alchol before. Still, it really seemed that a beer would be able to quench his thirst and cool him down. Yu Juan thought about giving it a try.

He opened it and drank half a mouthful before choking. Yu Juan felt that it wasn’t too tasty, but it also didn’t seem that bad. Thus, he gulped down one mouthful after another hoping that he could suppress the surging heat.

A few minutes later, Yu Juan slowly started to feel a bit dizzy.

Since he didn’t want to pass out in the kitchen, he thought it might be better to go back to his room.

The corridor was dark without a single light.

Yu Juan had his palms on the wall to support himself, walking one step at a time towards where his room was. Although he went really slowly, he didn’t actually think he’d come across any kind of obstacle. Right afterwards, however, he carelessly kicked into something and suddenly felt himself stumbling forward.

In the dark, Zhou Huiyue held Yu Juan’s waist with his arm and pulled the other’s wrist with his left hand before barely managing to scoop Yu Juan up.

His right hand had held down the wheelchair’s switch, but it was still forcefully dragged forward one metre before actually stopping.

If Zhou Huiyue was able to stand up, Yu Juan would’ve fallen into his arms instead– but it was even more likely that nothing would have happened in the first place since there would be no wheels for Yu Juan to trip over.

Yu Juan was still a bit confused and didn’t react to what had happened. He felt that it was a bit odd and was wondering how he could have run into someone in the corridor.

He then lowered and tilted his head, as if he was carefully trying to identify who it was, before saying with certainty, “Zhou Huiyue.”

Zhou Huiyue felt Yu Juan’s hot breath on the side of his face– Yu Juan didn’t seem aware of just how close they were at all.

Zhou Huiyue turned on his phone’s flashlight.

Yu Juan instinctively raised his hand to cover his eyes.

It was a bit unexpected to have Yu Juan’s face suddenly appear like this in front of the harsh white light coming from the phone– the outline of his facial features was so beautiful that it was almost ethereal, and it was as if the light wasn’t reflecting on him but rather that he was the one emitting light.

Zhou Huiyue was easily able to encircle Yu Juan’s wrist with his thumb and index finger due to how thin it was.

After Zhou Huiyue very politely let go of Yu Juan’s hand, he noticed a faint smell of alcohol on Yu Juan.

The fridge only contained canned beer with low alcohol content, so Zhou Huiyue asked, “What did you drink?”

Yu Juan mumbled under his breath, “The canned beer in the fridge. It wasn’t very tasty.”

Zhou Huiyue was certain Yu Juan was drunk.

He still wanted to drink even though he had such a poor alcohol tolerance.

“What would happen if you fell down?”

Yu Juan clarified seriously, “I won’t fall, how could I be that foolish?”

Zhou Huiyue smiled. Even the drunk Yu Juan was the same, unwilling to admit defeat.

By the time those few words were exchanged, Yu Juan had already forgotten that his initial purpose was to return to his room. It seemed that he would easily get tired when drunk. Yu Juan didn’t care about anything else and sat on the floor next to the wheelchair with his legs crossed.

Silence settled. Yu Juan didn’t make any noise, breathing really quietly.

A while later, Yu Juan raised his hand. He groped around until he touched the wheelchair, then continued further down to Zhou Huiyue’s orthopedic brace.

Just like a gust of wind, or like a leaf falling down, his actions were extremely light even though he was drunk– it was as if he was scared of hurting this injured person.

Occasionally, Yu Juan’s fingers would sink into the gaps of the brace and fall onto Zhou Huiyue’s bare skin. Due to how soft they were, the pads of Yu Juan’s fingers would dip from the slightest touch. Compared to any of their previous contact, this was a completely different sensation.

Zhou Huiyue had never let anyone touch his legs. Even though he could show his disability to anyone as if nothing had happened, those were his permanent scars.

However, he didn’t stop Yu Juan.

Yu Juan stopped for a moment, looking as if he had remembered something, then asked, “Does it hurt a lot? Your legs.”

Zhou Huiyue replied honestly, “It hurts a lot.”

When Yu Juan heard his response, his brows furrowed as if he could feel it too. He then slowly said, “I wish they could recover faster. I hate pain.”

In a really low voice, Zhou Huiyue said, “Not at the moment.”

Yu Juan asked in a seemingly really naive way, “It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

Zhou Huiyue placed his palm on his left knee. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

Then Yu Juan felt even more dizzy.

Zhou Huiyue held his shoulder, “Go back to your room, okay?”

Yu Juan wasn’t very sober, but common sense still reminded him that the wheelchair by his side couldn’t support his weight, so he propped himself up from the ground.

The two of them walked very slowly. When Yu Juan opened the door and went inside, Zhou Huiyue remained behind.

When he almost reached the bedside, Yu Juan suddenly turned around and reminded Zhou Huiyue, “Remember to close the door.”

Zhou Huiyue asked, “What will happen if not?”

Yu Juan’s voice was filled with anxiety, “There will be bugs coming in.”

It was as if Zhou Huiyue really wanted to deliberately anger Yu Juan, saying, “Well, then, just let them come in.”

Yu Juan’s eyes widened, “I’ll hit you.”

However, right after saying these words, he backed out and whispered to himself, “No, I can’t hit you. Your legs still hurt.”

It was as if the only reason he was letting this person off for the time being was because of his injured body.

Even if he had already walked halfway through, and even though he was unsteady, Yu Juan still wanted to go back to check.

Zhou Huiyue then said, “The door’s closed, there won’t be bugs.”

He merely thought that the drunk Yu Juan reacted quite differently from usual, and didn’t actually want to torment him on purpose.

Yu Juan trusted his words and sat on the bed. He tried to find something to support himself since he was unsteady, but ended up on the table with the side of his face pressed against it. Then, because he really loved how cool the marble table top was, he leaned his entire upper body on it in a really odd posture.

“It’s so hot.”

While it might seem that Yu Juan sounded a bit coquettish, he was actually just drunk.

He whispered once more, “It’s so hot.”

Zhou Huiyue stared at him without saying a word, then turned his wheelchair the other way and left the room.

Since Yu Juan didn’t get a reply, his voice slowly weakened until he stopped speaking altogether.

A few minutes later, the door opened. The wheelchair had returned to Yu Juan’s side.

Zhou Huiyue was holding a fan he had made himself, one that could barely be used, and said in a low voice, “I get it.”

When Yu Juan felt the slight breeze, he couldn’t help but lean towards that direction, though his reaction was much slower than usual. His wet eyes looked like the ripples on a lake after the rain, both pitiful and lovely.

He saw a blurry Zhou Huiyue.

Probably because he was drunk, he recalled what had happened before his death. He felt dizzy and his breathing grew rapid, then he said, “I hate you.”

The breeze didn’t stop, as if Zhou Huiyue hadn’t heard anything.

Yu Juan felt like a balloon swaying in the wind and shakily ascending to a high altitude, but he didn’t pop and just rapidly fell.

Zhou Huiyue looked at Yu Juan slowly closing his eyes and falling asleep completely.

The rhythmic breeze lifted the layers of Yu Juan’s hair.

When Yu Juan had said “It’s so hot”, it was like some kind of serious plea. If he had answered without doing anything, it would feel as if he had committed a crime.

Yu Juan’s face was so small that a mere hand could cover it entirely.

When Zhou Huiyue thought so, he raised his hand and hovered it above the side of Yu Juan’s face without approaching further. He could see Yu Juan’s thick eyelashes and smooth eyebrows through the gap between his forefinger and middle finger. Yu Juan slept very well, just like a carefree person who had nothing to think about. The words he had just said would likely all be forgotten too.

A long time later, Zhou Huiyue asked, “Hate?”

Zhou Huiyue hated both people and things that couldn’t be controlled. He had a way to deal with every person. But with Yu Juan, every conversation they had or every time they would meet, there was no precedent he could follow and no experience he could gain.

He was neither an enemy nor a collaborator, so his importance was so low that it was almost unnecessary.

Zhou Huiyue lowered his head to look at Yu Juan.

Could fifteen years change a person beyond recognition?

Zhou Huiyue thought of the past Yu Juan, of the expression in those eyes as Yu Juan looked at him. He had actually almost forgotten about it since Yu Juan didn’t hinder him enough to be considered an enemy.

“Are you Yu Juan?”

Yu Juan would’ve been able to recognise this tone if he was awake– it was completely the same as the one of fifteen years ago, that very cold and emotionless questioning voice.

“Who are you?”

Zhou Huiyue moved his palm away and looked at Yu Juan’s face, asking something he didn’t realise was really strange.