Huo Yu’s fingers were warm and dry, causing a slight itch as they grazed Xia Wan’s skin. Xia Wan couldn’t help but bite his lip and turned his face away slightly.
“What do you mean by ‘yours,’ Eldest Master?” Xia Wan found Huo Yu’s behavior a bit amusing. He leaned closer with a teasing smile and whispered softly, “You shouldn’t talk nonsense; the medicine, if taken indiscriminately, could be harmful.”
Huo Yu replied with a drawn-out “oh.”
Huo Yu hadn’t fully shaken off his earlier emotions. Seeing Xia Wan’s seemingly heartless laughter, he couldn’t help but speak in a cold tone, “I did not take any medicine.”
“Sure,” Xia Wan responded casually. Finding Huo Yu’s demeanor somewhat amusing, He couldn’t resist pursing his lips and smiling as he tilted his head
Xia Wan continued after a brief laugh, looking around before whispering, “So, during our arrangement, does ‘Eldest Master’ also belong to me?”
Huo Yu remained silent, just gazing quietly at Xia Wan.
Under the morning sun, his eyes were like deep pools, reflecting Xia Wan figure only.
Xia Wan saw his thin lips pursed into a thin line, and for some reason, his heart suddenly felt weak. But then, he tried to not affect by those deep eyes. He poked the person’s chest muscle with his finger: “Isn’t that so, the eldest master?”
However his “eldest master” still didn’t reply, and even lowered his eyes further.
Xia Wan tilted his head, thinking that he needed to coax Huo Yu somehow, but before he could come up with a plan, Huo Yu spoke.
“If something like this happens in the future, you must tell me,” Hio Yu said in a hushed voice, “Ask me for help, understand?”
“Of course I understand,” Xia Wan responded. He recalled the words he had used to coax Huo Yu earlier and clarified, “I just didn’t think people would pay as much attention to my family as they do to your uncle. After all, my family doesn’t pose a threat to them.”
“That’s not acceptable either,” Huo Yu replied, raising his gaze with determination and resolve.
Xia Wan observed him for a moment but didn’t feel like compromising: “Alright, alright, I’ll listen to the eldest master, okay?”
Huo Yu pursed his lips but remained silent.
Looking at Huo Yu’s cold face, Xia Wan gently tugged at his sleeves and said with a hint of flattery, “Come on, I will take the eldest master to eat some delicious food.”
“What kind of delicious food can a hospital have?” Huo Yu sounded reluctant, but his tone softened.
“The hospital can’t compete with restaurants outside,” Xia Wan grinned and winked.
Huo Yu let out a soft snort, but the corners of his mouth involuntarily curved upwards.
There were numerous restaurants of all sizes near the hospital, mainly catering to patients and their families. Xia Wan didn’t take Huo Yu to those places but led him to the outskirts.
The morning breeze of summer was gentle, brushing against Xia Wan’s face and ruffling his hair. He squinted his eyes and asked Huo Yu, “Eldest Master, what were you doing at our school that day? Did something happen?”
Huo Yu, giving him a scrutinizing glance, replied with a touch of firmness, “There’s noy much to know.”
“Tsk,” Xia Wan pouted and looked up at Huo Yu, stepping back slightly. “Eldest master is quite hypocritical, you just told me to confess everything, but now you’re hiding it away.”
Seeing that Huo Yu was indifferent, he added, “Well, then I’ll also use double standards.”
“You dare.” Huo Yu gave him a cold look.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ktfc ktja kfgf sbe ublcu ab vb?” Wlj Qjc tjiafv jcv ifjcfv lc, tlr fsfr kfgf rqjgxilcu klat meglbrlas.
Leb Te vlvc’a ribk vbkc jcv jmmlvfcajiis yewqfv lcab tlw. Mbg j wbwfca, atf akb bo atfw kfgf cfjgis abemtlcu.
Fcvfg atf rtjvf bo atf agff, Leb Te mbeiv jiwbra offi atf ojlca kjgwat fwjcjalcu ogbw Wlj Qjc’r ybvs, jr kfii jr atf ilcufglcu rmfca bo vlrlcofmajca tf tjv qlmxfv eq lc atf tbrqlaji kjgv.
Such proximity made one feel both intimate and strangely tormented.
Huo Yu’s throat tightened, and his fingers felt loose by his side.
“Forget it,” Xia Wan said, turning away when he stayed silent.
“I came to find you,” Huo Yu’s voice reached just as he took a few steps.
“Huh?” Xia Wan stopped and turned around, puzzled. “Find me? Is something wrong?”
Xia Wan asked as if it were the most natural thing, as if Huo Yu wouldn’t meet him without a reason.
Huo Yu’s expression darkened slightly, but he still replied, “Yes, something’s wrong.”
“Is your uncle going to put on another big show?” Xia Wan clenched his fists upon hearing this, seeming ready for action.
Huo Yu glanced down at Xia Wan’s tense face and chuckled.
He reached out and ruffled the top of Xia Wan’s hair. “No, it’s about your final design draft,” he said.
“Oh,” Xia Wan’s eyes widened, and he seemed a bit nervous. “Have you shown it to someone? Is it not good?”
It’s good, maybe a bit too good. Huo Yu thought.
“Very good,” Huo Yu commented, “Even Teacher Li was praising your talent.”
“Really?” Xia Wan breathed a sigh of relief, his face lighting up with joy.
“Yes,” Huo Yu nodded, a subtle smile gracing his lips. “We’re actually planning to make your design the main style for Yan Yu’s autumn collection.”
Xia Wan was taken aback and asked, still uncertain, “Really?”
Huo Yu’s smile grew, and he raised an eyebrow teasingly. “Do you think I lied to you just to get some money?”
Xia Wan bit his lip, and then his happiness couldn’t be contained any longer. His laughter rang through the air, reaching Huo Yu’s ears and warming his heart.
Huo Yu looked down at him for a moment, and couldn’t help but laugh.
They walked through two intersections, and Xia Wan stopped in front of a shop.
“Is this place okay?” she asked, adding, “It’s a chain restaurant, and it’s pretty clean inside.”
Huo Yu looked up at the red sign by the entrance and eventually nodded.
“What would you like to eat, eldest master? I will treat you,” Xia Wan said, pushing the menu toward Huo Yu.
Huo Yu studied the menu for a moment before settling on seafood porridge.
“You don’t have to worry about saving me money,” Xia Wan remarked, noticing he’d ordered only one item. He lowered his head and added, “I can still earn money now.”
Then, something crossed his mind, and he looked at Huo Yu. “Don’t forget to pay for the jewelry design,” He reminded Huo Yu.
Huo Yu met his gaze and smiled. “I won’t forget.”
Xia Wan breathed a sigh of relief and happily jotted down the dish codes on the menu: preserved egg porridge, steamed dumplings, crispy dumplings, Taiwanese meat dumplings, large pork chop rice, hot and sour seaweed root, small crispy meat.
As he was about to add more, Huo Yu gently placed his hand on his. “That’s enough,” he said, looking down at the extensive order list.
Xia Wan set the pen aside and proceeded to meticulously sterilize the utensils with boiling water before handing them to Huo Yu.
Huo Yu accepted it, cradling the cup in his hand. It was still a bit warm. His gaze stayed fixed on it, there was an unusual hint of gentleness in his expression.
“Your dad,” he said softly as he turned the cup in his hand, “Is there any more treatment needed after the surgery?”
“We’ll need four more rounds of chemotherapy,” Xia Wan explained. “Then, there’s a good chance we’ll have to do a complete set of genetic tests to see if there are any specific drugs available for his symptoms.”
He went on, “These targeted drugs can be quite costly, ranging from seven to eight thousand per month, and sometimes as much as thirty to fifty thousand. And there might be other treatments needed as well.”
Huo Yu nodded, his tone gentle, “If you ever face financial difficulties, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“The amount you gave earlier is sufficient,” Xia Wan replied, showing rare gratitude. “I can also earn money myself. If I do a weekly live stream, I won’t have to worry about future recurrences if it happens.”
Huo Yu raised his hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Xia Wan’s ear, saying, “What did I tell you before?”
Xia Wan softly responded, “Hmm, I’ll mention it if I need to.”
He had a good understanding of this illness, and Xia Chengzhang’s condition had worsened since the initial diagnosis. Objectively speaking, there’s a high chance of a recurrence in the future.
Xia Wan had gone through the agony of illness before, so he handled the pain with a sense of composure. As a family member of the patient, he also aimed to keep a level head to make the right decisions when needed.
“The field of medicine is advancing rapidly,” Huo Yu’s voice took on a gentler tone. “We have access to the best treatments.”
Xia Wan remained silent, gazing at Huo Yu with an amused expression.
Huo Yu, slightly dissatisfied with his silence, urged, “If you have something on your mind, just say it, Xia Wan.”
“Eldest Master, you may not get it,” Xia Wan replied as he brought a dumpling to his lips.
The dumplings were slightly too hot, and Xia Wan puffed out his cheeks before blowing on them gently. His lips formed a pout, but there was a warm smile in his eyes and between his brows, just like the dumpling he was enjoying.
Huo Yu watched Xia Wan quietly, a spontaneous smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Even his eyebrows lifted with a hint of amusement.
“Is it wrong for me to let your dad do the best treatment?” Huo Yu asked, his concern evident in his voice.
After finishing the glutinous rice, Xia Wan spoke thoughtfully, “There are different treatment options for this illness, with first-line, second-line, and more.”
“My dad’s condition is relatively stable right now, so the first-line treatment is sufficient,” Xia Wan clarified. “Using all the advanced drugs too soon could lower the chances of recurrence, but if there’s a relapse, it could lead to drug resistance, leaving no effective treatment options.”
“You have not fully grasped the challenges faced by cancer patients,” Xia Wan concluded.
Huo Yu observed Xia Wan as he talked and ate.
Even though Xia Wan’s words sounded composed, Huo Yu understood that he must have done extensive research and faced challenging decisions before arriving at this conclusion.
Xia Wan appeared lovely and harmless, the type of child anyone would want to cradle and cherish. Such children were often seen as delicate.
Yet to his family, he was like a bamboo stalk—graceful, gentle, but also resilient and sturdy.
He could be patient to bring happiness or shoulder the responsibilities of a family in times of hardship.
Huo Yu felt a sense of contentment. He thought “Being a part of Xia Wan’s family must bring a lot of happiness, doesn’t it?”
…
Wen Yunzhi had been busy for a while and felt a bit tired. She took a sip of water, leaned back, and gazed out of the window, giving her eyes a break after spending the entire morning reading reports.
As she heard a knock at the office door, she initially assumed it was her assistant with lunch. However, to her surprise, it was Xue Wenxuan who entered.
“When did you come?” Wen Yunzhi greeted him with a smile, rising from her seat. “Anyways you’ve come just in time. Come let’s have lunch together.”
“Alright,” Xue Wenxuan sat down with a smile and gently placed the document he had in hand in a corner of the sofa.
Wen Yunzhi’s attention was drawn to a paper bag with the name “Xia Wan” on it. Her expression tensed, and she quickly reached for it.
Xue Wenxuan sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I intended to discuss this with you after dinner.”
“Let’s talk about it now,” Wen Yunzhi said, picking up the folder and eager to go through the contents. The folder contained numerous pages of information, most of which seemed to be related to Xia Chengzhang’s hometown.
“Our leads were about to hit a dead end,” Xue Wenxuan explained, “but I stumbled upon a record of Xia Wan’s age being changed when he was a child.”
He went on to clarify, “Ten years ago, in many smaller towns, record-keeping wasn’t as precise, so there were cases of age changes.”
“What?” Wen Yunzhi was taken aback. “Are you saying Xia Wan’s current age is incorrect?”
Xue Wenxuan shook his head, “No, it’s the age recorded before the correction that was wrong.”
Wen Yunzhi furrowed her brow, “What happened next?”
“Xia Chengzhang isn’t very sociable, he doesn’t get along with many people” Xue Wenxuan continued, “and when he relocated, not many locals knew much about him. We tracked him down using Xia Wan’s old residence, and it led us to a nearby area with two small towns next to each other.”
Wen Yunzhi’s grip on the document made her knuckles turn pale.
“Some elderly residents still remember that Xia Wan wasn’t born there but was brought back by Xia Chengzhang,” Xue Wenxuan explained.
Wen Yunzhi’s voice quivered as she asked, “So, is Wanwan my child?”
Xue Wenxuan approached her, partially embracing her, and gently replied, “Mom, I don’t know.”
He paused for a moment and added, “But I can confirm that eighteen years ago, the day Ake disappeared was exactly the day Xia Chengzhang left the capital and returned to his hometown.”
So it appears that Xia Chengzhang just flat-out kidnapped Xia Wan? I thought things where going to more more morally ambiguous then that like a mix-up of some sort but this is an interesting direction to take things. Especially since the author just went through all the effort of making us feel bad for this guy by focusing on his poor health these last couple chapters.
Well, you can say so. In the next few chapters, you will get the gist of what and how it has happened.
I get the feeling it’s related to the “great wrong” that Uncle Zhang (sp?) said he did to XC
Oh interesting
Thank you for your translation ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
A clue! \OoO/
Thank You for the new chapter (⸝⸝⍢⸝⸝) ෆ
I don’t think he kidnapped Xia Wan, but that maybe someone tricked him into taking Xia Wan, thinking he was a relative of the Xia family. He just seems too nice, and I remember a few chapters back he seems to say that Xia Wan saved him and brought life into his life. You wouldn’t say that about a kid you maliciously kidnapped, right?
As far as I know double punctuation (like ?!) is used to emphasize the emotional content of a sentence (or speech), so I think in this case XW means that since his previous performance isn’t getting the desired reaction from HY, XW is saying he’s going to be even more dramatic, if that makes sense? (○ﾟεﾟ○)
Oh… I thought he picked up Xia Wan on the side of a road, as crude as it sounds. I thought maybe someone kidnapped him from the Xue family and left him somewhere in the country and thats how he found him and raised him.🤔
same here! Hopefully, we’ll learn soon what actually happened.