Xia Wan felt physically exhausted. It was similar to someone who hadn’t exercised in a while and suddenly ran a challenging distance of three thousand meters, leaving his entire body feeling sore.
He shifted his body beneath the quilt and then fell silent again.
“Are you awake?” Suddenly, Huo Yu asked from the end of the bed.
Xia Wan gently raised the blanket and noticed that Huo Yu was setting aside the tablet before getting up from the couch.
Huo Yu extended a caring gesture, softly brushing his fingers against Xia Wan’s slightly dry lips, he asked, “Would you like some water?”
“Yes,” Xia Wan replied, his voice carrying a faint hoarseness.
He found himself involuntarily pressing his lips together, a blush creeping to his ears as he replayed the memory of the messy and somewhat forced words he had to repeat under Huo Yu’s influence last night.
Instinctively, he lifted his hand and touched his ear.
Huo Yu asked, “What’s the matter?” as soon as he noticed the action.
Huo Yu was all dressed up, wearing a comfy beige sweater that seemed soft and warm. The sleeves revealed a glimpse of his white shirt underneath. As he held a glass, his bony hand came into view, presenting a well-put-together appearance.
“It’s okay,” Xia Wan reassured, lifting his face to offer a smile. He then reached out to take the water glass.
“I’ll do it,” Huo Yu offered, bringing the water glass to Xia Wan’s lips with a considerate gesture.
Xia Wan didn’t insist, leaning on Huo Yu’s shoulder. He drank half a cup of hot water from Huo Yu’s hand, and gradually, he began to feel more alive again.
“Hey, Eldest Master,” Xia Wan asked, scanning the surroundings for his cell phone, “do you know what time it is?” Failing to locate his phone, his eyes caught sight of something else.
In Huo Yu’s room, there was a white outfit, all dirty and wrinkled even though it was worn only once, lying quietly on the carpet.
On the round table in front of the sofa, Huo Yu’s phone kept flashing.
“Eldest Master,” Xia Wan said, pursing his lips and deliberately ignoring the crumpled outfit, “Your phone is ringing.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Huo Yu reassured, wiping the water stains from the corners of Xia Wan’s lips. He then raised his wrist to check the time and added, “It’s just half past ten.”
“Already?” Xia Wan exclaimed, startled, and then recalled the promise he made to take a selfie for fans last night.
Now taking a selfie was definitely out of the question.
Xia Wan gently twirled his fingertips, feeling a sense of guilt and unease.
Even if he wanted to make up for yesterday’s appearance…
But…..
“What’s the matter?” Huo Yu inquired, catching Xia Wan’s hesitation. He laughed softly, teasingly adding, “Reluctant to take that selfie?”
“It’s all your fault,” Xia Wan expressed with a blend of anger and distress. He continued, “I wore it just once, and now look at it!”
“I’ll order more for you, okay?” Huo Yu reassured, lowering his gaze as he gently held onto Xia Wan’s ankle.
The anklet didn’t make any noise, just moved a bit as Huo Yu touched it, and then rested peacefully on Xia Wan’s skin.
Too Quiet.…..
“Next time,” Huo Yu said with a quiet smile, “You should wear a bell with it.”
“Huh?” Xia Wan was momentarily surprised and then attempted to lift his foot for a kick, but Huo Yu held his foot tightly.
“Are you always this ruthless when I give you something?” Huo Yu asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes as he looked at him.
Xia Wan hurried to catch him, but Huo Yu wrapped his arms around Xia Wan’s waist quickly and caught him in his embrace.
They shared laughter and jokes, and as the moment passed, Huo Yu became concerned that Xi a Wan might get cold. Taking care of him, Huo Yu meticulously covered Xia Wan with layers of a quilt, cocooning him in warmth like a silkworm chrysalis.
“Take some extra time to sleep,” Huo Yu softly said, leaning over to plant a gentle kiss on Xia Wan’s forehead. “I’ll go downstairs and prepare a meal for you.”
“I’m not very hungry,” Xia Wan mentioned, then continued, “I’d rather wait and have lunch with you at noon.”
Despite the tightly drawn blackout curtains, Xia Wan could still perceive the gleam in Huo Yu’s eyes.
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.
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Unless there was something very important, Xia Chengzhang rarely called three times in a row.
Worried about slowing down Xia Wan’s work, Xia Chengzhang usually only made one call. Even if he (XW) didn’t get an answer, he wouldn’t call again. Instead, he’d wait for Xia Wan to call back after seeing the missed call.
Cui Xiaoheng’s calls were even more off. He gave a missed call around two o’clock and close to three o’clock in the morning.
Unless it was something very important, he shouldn’t have called at that time. On top, he made two calls.
Without any time to think, he quickly called Xia Chengzhang back.
Xia Chengzhang picked up the call fast. As soon as he answered, Xia Wan eagerly called out, “Dad.”
“Hey,” Xia Chengzhang responded, his voice unchanged from usual.
Xia Wan sighed in relief and explained, “I fell asleep last night and missed your call.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” Xia Chengzhang said.
Despite lingering confusion, Xia Wan found relief in Xia Chengzhang’s words. He took a moment to slip on his slippers and approached the curtains. As he pulled them open, a flood of golden sunlight filled the room, instantly brightening the space.
The weather today was splendid, with no wind or clouds, just a clear blue sky. The community’s lake mirrored the scenery like a blue emerald. Xia Wan couldn’t help but smile, “I got a little startled when I saw three missed calls.”
“What could happen to me?” Xia Chengzhang reassured, “I’m okay.”
Though he claimed everything was fine, he couldn’t help but cautiously inquire, “Wanwan, are you and Xiaoyu okay?”
Leaning on his waist for support, Xia Wan couldn’t suppress a smile as he responded, “It’s all right, don’t worry.”
Upon hearing this, the wrinkles at the corners of Xia Chengzhang’s eyes finally relaxed. The reason behind his three calls last night was solely because Aunt Zhang saw the rumors circulating about Xia Wan and Shen Yan.
Xia Chengzhang’s way of thinking was kinda old-fashioned, and he didn’t know Shen Yan or anything about his connection with Huo Yu. That’s why he called Xia Wan.
First, he wanted to know the details of what happened, and second, he was worried that Xia Wan and Huo Yu might have some kind of misunderstanding because of it.
So, when Xia Wan didn’t pick up, and Xia Chengzhang couldn’t sleep well either, he tossed and turned in the second half of the night. Unexpectedly, he stumbled upon another message on the internet, and that finally made him feel relieved.
While they were talking on the phone, Huo Yu came up with plates and cups. There were several kinds of nuts, a few Dafu, a piece of toast, and some fruits on the plate, and there was still steaming milk in the cup.
With a slight bend, Huo Yu carefully set the items on the table. He then turned around, gently grasped Xia Wan’s wrist, and led him to a comfortable seat.
At that moment, Xia Chengzhang was on the phone and gave a stern warning, “You’re not young anymore. You can’t be so childish. Live a good life with Xiaoyu, and maintain a proper distance from others. Any rumors can harm your relationship and negatively impact your career.”
Sighing, he expressed, “Those folks on the internet don’t really bother about whether things are true or false. They’re just looking for entertainment.” His words hinted at the frustration with online rumors and the casual approach some individuals take towards spreading information without verifying its accuracy.
Listening to this, Xia Wan finally understood the purpose of those three phone calls.
He acted coquettishly towards Xia Chengzhang and said, “I know, Dad, I will listen to you.”
The father and son chatted a bit more. Xia Wan inquired about Xia Chengzhang’s recent days, advising him to get ready for the reexamination by preparing the necessary items in advance. He assured him that he would pick him up at home on the day of the reexamination.
After ending the call, Xia Wan took a sip of milk and praised with enthusiasm, “The eldest master makes very tasty milk.”
Huo Yu’s lips curled up, but the expression in his eyes seemed to be a smile, yet it held something else.
“What’s wrong?” Xia Wan became cautious upon meeting Huo Yu’s eyes. “Why are you laughing?”
“You’re not young anymore. You can’t act like a child. You need to live a good life with Xiao Yu and maintain a proper distance from others.” Huo Yu smiled, mimicking Xia Chengzhang’s words.
“Tsk,” Xia Wan couldn’t help but kick Huo Yu’s calf. “Eldest master, be honest, can you blame me for this? It’s not me who asked Shen Yan to keep an eye on me. And why should I be banned from drinking?”
“I’ll join you for a drink next time, okay?” Huo Yu raised his hand and affectionately rubbed Xia Wan’s hair.
Xia Wan felt at ease. After taking a couple of bites, he called Cui Xiaoheng.
Cui Xiaoheng answered the call promptly, echoing a similar tone to Xia Chengzhang, “It’s okay, Mis…. Teacher Xia, nothing happened.”
Xia Wan furrowed his brow in confusion, “But you called me twice in the early morning.”
“I dialed the wrong number,” Cui Xiaoheng explained. “I’m sorry, Teacher Xia, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“That’s okay,” Xia Wan replied.
The call ended, but Xia Wan still felt a bit off. After pondering for a moment, he realized that Cui Xiaoheng didn’t remind him to work on a project.
It’s quite unusual, isn’t it?
At that very moment, Cui Xiaoheng was patting his chest in relief, as if his life had been saved.
“Thank goodness you reminded me,” he said to Li Yue beside him, “otherwise, I would have been caught, and the boss might have fired me.”
Li Yue raised his finger, pointing at the dark circles under his eyes, “Huo Yu called me early in the morning to remind me. Otherwise, do you think I could have held it back?”
“Tell me,” Cui Xiaoheng lowered his voice, “Boss, why doesn’t he want Teacher Xia to know that he’s the owner of Langqiao?”
“In my opinion,” Li Yue curled his lips, “I wonder what tricks he’s hiding up his sleeve?”
Cui Xiaoheng stuck out his tongue. Li Yue dared to play tricks on their boss, but he didn’t have the courage.
He was very content with his current job and wanted to continue it for a long time.
After Xia Wan answered the phone, he clicked on the message again and prepared to reply.
In the software, the dormitory chat group remained in the top spot, as it did most of the time, with the number of unread messages being (99+).
Xia Wan suddenly thought of something. He clicked in and sent Su Tang a message before reading the message.
[Big bowl of sweet tea: @Xiaotiantangguo, heaven is my witness, yesterday’s scandal with Mr. Shen was indeed all a misunderstanding.]
[Xiaotiantangguo: @bowlsweettea, is there any need to say this? He’s such a jerk, he’s not even qualified to carry your shoes.]
[Shen Xing:…]
[Xiaotian Ling: @bowlsweettea, true? Wanwan, there’s been lots of other waves to mention, and you’re still stuck on the gossip? Wanwan, we have bigger things to talk about.]
Xia Wan: …
Before he could even think about it, two people in the group sent another message.
[Xiaotiantangguo: @bowltianchabaoer, I was driven crazy by Mr. Huo last night. What kind of fairy love was this? How could that jerk Shen Yan compare to Mr. Huo?]
[Small Sweet Ling: Ahhhhhh, that was so damn sweet, it was a feast for singles! It was killing me!]
Xia Wan: …
His eyes paused on the message interface for a moment, then he glanced sideways at Huo Yu.
Huo Yu also made a phone call after talking to Cui Xiaoheng and then sat back at the desk.
At this moment, he was staring at the screen intently, his lips forming a straight line, and he didn’t seem to notice the movement on Xia Wan’s side.
Xia Wan pursed his lips and decided to seek help from the all-powerful Weibo.
Since Su Tang claimed to be driven crazy by Huo Yu, Xia Wan thought of searching for posts related to Huo Yu. Then he would have all the answers.
Settling on this idea, he clicked on the Weibo icon.
However, he didn’t need to search, as soon as he entered, he saw Huo Yu’s name on the hot search list.
“Huo Yu”. There was a “Boom” emoji following it.
Xia Wan’s scalp couldn’t help but feel a tingle when seeing this post. He glanced at Huo Yu, then raised his hand to click on the relevant entry.
The first Weibo post under the entry has more than 20,000 comments alone, forming a neat nine-square grid.
The accompanying text consists of just four simple words: The truth is revealed.
In addition to the photo of Huo Yu hugging him tightly when they met Huo Lin in the hotel, there are several shots from behind of him and Huo Yu briefly walking side by side at yesterday’s charity dinner, along with some personal photos showcasing different angles.
These back views were meant for netizens to compare with the back view of Xia Wan in Huo Yu’s arms in the first photo.
In addition to the back views, there were also screenshots of the ring on Xia Wan’s hand during the live broadcast, as well as detailed shots of Huo Yu’s hand and screenshots of the ring during the interview.
Also, Xia Wan had never seen the photo in the middle C position.
In that picture, there were two hands, one big and one small, holding each other tightly.
The bigger hand had clear joints and slender fingers, while the smaller one had thinner and whiter skin, and there was a ring on the ring finger of both hands.
The ring on the smaller hand was instantly recognizable to many people.
Because it was so unique, during Xia Wan’s live broadcast, more than once, someone wanted to buy the same style ring.
The ring was engraved with a very beautiful and delicate flying swallow over the water. The gentle ripples caused by the swallow’s wings passing over the water directly extended to the other person’s ring in this picture.
Anyone could see that the rings were a pair. Only when combined together could they form a complete picture.
No one knew that this photo of interlocking fingers was taken from Huo Yu’s bed last night.
Xia Wan’s eyes followed the carpet little by little, passing over the messy clothes on the floor, and looked at the dark blue bedding.
In the photo, Xia Wan’s hand was tightly clasped by Huo Yu on the dark blue bedsheet.
The watermark in the lower right corner of the photo was Huo Yu’s personal certified Weibo account.
That particular account had consistently remained empty, occasionally utilized solely for sharing updates related to Huo’s professional endeavors.
However, when it came to personal matters, this was the first time such content was shared on that account.
“Huo Yu.” Xia Wan called Huo Yu’s name very softly, and Huo Yu’s hand that was typing on the keyboard immediately stopped.
“Hmm?” Huo Yu looked over.
Xia Wan hesitated for a moment before continuing, “You posted on Weibo”
“Yeah,” Huo Yu said, “You mentioned last night was a charity dinner, and you wanted to keep a low profile. That’s why I didn’t post the photos until early morning.”
He paused, shifting his gaze to Xia Wan, and spoke slowly, “Not last night.”
“What I want to say is,” Xia Wan looked at him, a smile playing in his eyes, “Can you share the photos without watermarks with me?”
Huo Yu looked at him for a moment and whispered, “Come here.”
Xia Wan approached him, and they interlocked fingers once more just like in the picture.
“I didn’t hug you properly last night when I fell asleep. Let’s take another one again.” Xia Wan said.
……………
TN
We are only 11 chapters away from completing this!!
Really time really passes quickly. After completing this story I would definitely have mixed feelings. But just as someone said show must go on. I really want to thank readers who have supported and liked this translation.
Without you all I wouldn’t have been able to complete this. Thanks again:)
Also, after the completion of this story, I will also be posting a new story. This time it would be completely different from other stories.
Spoiler:-
In this novel, there would be no perfect shou (MC) or Gong (ML). They have an imperfection that makes them stand out the most.
Welcome to a world where our MC who can’t see aka Blind meets an imperfect disfigured face ML.
So, keep an eye on the story where people can still fall in love even if they are imperfect:)))
Hope you leave your review down below!!
Thank You for the new chapter ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ) Of course I will be sad after ending, but I can’t wait for new project! ^^
Can’t believe we’re already close to the end. Thank you for your translations and I’m looking forward to the new work already ヾ(´∀｀)ﾉ
This is such a good novel! I really enjoy the couple dynamic in this one. No toxic behavior, no dub-con, actally talking through the issues that come up… Thank you for translating it! 🥰
Thanks for translating the new chapter ヘ(≧▽≦ヘ)♪
Love this story!
Thanks for the chapters!! 💜💜💜 Totally my opinion, this isn’t one of the best novels I’ve read on CG, BUT I really got emotionally invested in the characters and I’ve been loving all the sweetness and fluff, so thanks for all your hard work! The new story seems interesting! 👀
What are the best novels, that you have read on CG so far? Please share the names.
Original Novels – Wake, Fuck-Up’s Guide to Falling in Love, Moon Theory, Dao of the Salted Fish, A Dream Within WaterTranslated (Completed): Married Thrice to a Salted Fish, #1 Pretty Boy of the Immortal Path (same author as Little Mushroom), The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish, Intergalactic Era of Gossip, Cultural Relics Are Not to be Disturbed, Don’t Discriminate Against SpeciesTranslated (Ongoing) – Accidentally Married the Wrong Blind Date (same translator as this novel, only 5 chapters in but I love it already), Phermone Recognition Disorder, Cheonghwa Town, I’m a Male Mom in a Nightmare Game, High Dimension Invasion, Please Stop Pretending to be a Cute Newcomer, The Rescue of the Tragic Villain is in Progress
Happy Reading!
💖💐💖💐