“I haven’t made a wish yet.” Chen Ju lay on the bed and murmured in a low voice. He closed his eyes, wanting to return to his dream, but it was no use. Once awake from the dream, he was awake.
After lingering on the bed for a while, Chen Ju got up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom. When Auntie saw him coming out, she brought out the hot nutritious soup and greeted him: “Mr. Chen, please drink the soup after you freshen up.”
“Okay, thank you.” Chen Ju’s ears were burning hot. Auntie must have seen him sitting in Jiang Zhou’s arms last night. Thinking of this, he dared not look at Auntie again.
After drinking the nutritious soup, Chen Ju felt warm and full. Auntie brought another plate, with some vegetables and meat inside, and another glass of green juice.
“After finishing the soup, Mr. Chen, please finish these too.” Auntie said with a smile, “it’s good for your health.”
Chen Ju stared at the plate and couldn’t help but burp. Troubled, he asked, “Can I not eat anymore? I’m already full.”
“No,” Auntie removed the soup bowl in front of Chen Ju and placed the plate. “The young master ordered me to watch you finish it. Mr. Chen, please don’t make it difficult for me.”
Auntie said so. Chen Ju knew Jiang Zhou’s temper. If he didn’t obey, not only would he suffer, but Auntie would also be implicated.
The food was delicious, but his stomach couldn’t stand it after eating so much.
After Chen Ju finished his meal, Auntie left. He checked his phone and saw two text messages from Li Qing, making an appointment with him at the shopping mall near the hotel at 11:30.
Arriving at the entrance of the mall, he saw Li Qing standing by the flower bed. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, smoking while playing with his mobile phone.
“Qing Ge!” Chen Ju ran over.
When Li Qing saw Chen Ju, he immediately stubbed out the cigarette butt and threw it into the trash can. He looked at Chen Ju up and down and said with a smile, “Not bad. It’s only been a few days since I last saw you, and your complexion has improved.”
Chen Ju smiled awkwardly and said, “Really? Maybe it’s because I’ve been eating a lot recently.”
“You seem to be doing quite well,” Li Qing laughed. “By the way, you mentioned in your text message that you had a favour to ask me. What was it?”
Chen Ju paused for a few seconds, pursed his lips, raised his head, and begged: “Qing Ge, can you accompany me to meet my mother?”
Going back and forth by car from here took up the whole day. He promised Jiang Zhou to return before 6 p.m.
“Okay.” Li Qing readily agreed without asking any questions.
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.
The car was borrowed from Yan Qiu by Li Qing. Yan Qiu, that miser, despite having so many brand-name cars, was only willing to lend a second-hand one. If it weren’t for their long-standing friendship from childhood, knowing this was just his way, Li Qing would definitely have had a serious discussion with him.
The road became more and more remote, and Li Qing couldn’t help but comment: “Orange, it seems like Auntie lives quite far off.”
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Li Qing looked at the gentle smile on Chen Ju’s face and felt sad. Ah, how could such a good kid have such a bad fate?
They soon arrived at the mental hospital. Chen Ju asked Li Qing to wait outside while he went in alone.
After Li Qing finished smoking a cigarette, Chen Ju came out. Just as he was about to ask how he was doing, he saw the redness and swelling on Chen Ju’s forehead. Hurriedly walking over, upon closer inspection, he found that not only was there a wound on his forehead, but the man’s down jacket also had a large tear in it. However, Chen Ju seemed completely unaware of it.
“Orange…” Li Qing wanted to ask what had happened, but stopped when he met Chen Ju’s dim eyes, and all the words got stuck in his throat.
The car drove back, and Chen Ju sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window quietly. There was no expression on his face, neither sadness nor sorrow, as if he was isolated from the world.
“Qing Ge, do you think mom still remembers me?” While waiting at the red light, Chen Ju suddenly spoke, his round eyes filled with confusion and doubt.
Li Qing paused, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said: “Of course, Mom is the person who loves you the most in this world. She’s just sick now. You can’t stop loving her just because she’s sick, right?”
Chen Ju stared blankly at Li Qing. Gradually, his dull, lusterless eyes began to fill with moisture. Lowering his head, he gave a firm nod.
The light turned green, and the car started to drive. From outside the window, the sound of honking mixed with the noisy voices of people coming in. Amid this clamor, Chen Ju, sitting in the passenger seat, had eyes rimmed with redness, clutching his clothes tightly.
“Thank you, Qing Ge,” Chen Ju stood outside the car window and waved to Li Qing, “See you next time.”
“Oh, okay, I will.” Chen Ju suddenly remembered that there was an injury on his forehead, and hastily brushed his hair to cover it, then raised his head, revealing a big smile.
Li Qing looked at Chen Ju, who was smiling brightly. His eyes were so red in the car, but he didn’t shed a tear.
Who said Chen Ju was weak? In his opinion, Chen Ju was the true man.
“Take good care of yourself,” Li Qing reached out and ruffled Chen Ju’s hair, “Happy birthday.”
After watching Li Qing leave, the smile on Chen Ju’s face gradually faded. He tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and the cold air entered his body through his nostrils, making the wounds on his skin throb with faint pain.
Those eyes appeared in front of him again, looking at him as if he were a stranger, without any love or tenderness.
He hugged the woman tightly, calling out “Mom” over and over again. Even though his clothes were torn and his skin was scratched, he did not let go.
Because he believed that even if his mother forgot everything, she would not hurt him.
So, when the ashtray fell, Chen Ju didn’t move at all; he just stared blankly at his mom. If it weren’t for the nurse pulling him away, the injury might have been to his eye.
“Mom is just sick,” Chen Ju lowered his head, blinked his dry eyes, and murmured as if to reassure himself. “When you save enough money to take her out, everything will be fine.”
*****
After Chen Ju returned, he took off his clothes and was looking for a needle and thread to mend them when the sound of the door opening was heard. Jiang Zhou had come back. He looked around, then hurriedly stuffed the clothes into a corner of the wardrobe.
“Chen Ju.” Jiang Zhou’s voice sounded outside, carrying unquestionable majesty.
“Coming, coming!” Chen Ju ran his fingers through his hair, covered his forehead, straightened his clothes again, and then opened the bedroom door.
Under the bright light of the living room, Jiang Zhou was wearing a silver-gray coat and holding a small square-shaped gift box in his hand. Chen Ju was stunned and recognized that it was a cake box.
“Aren’t you coming over?” Jiang Zhou frowned, as if holding that thing made him tired.
Chen Ju snapped back to reality and hurried over, reaching out to take the cake box with cheeks flushed red from happiness.
“Did you buy it for me?” Chen Ju suppressed his excitement and looked at Jiang Zhou expectantly.
“Who else would it be for?” Jiang Zhou retorted. After changing into slippers, he walked towards the dining table and saw the nutritious soup on it. Frowning, he asked, “Why haven’t you drunk it?”
When Chen Ju came back, Auntie was cooking. He didn’t dare let her see him in that state. So, he ran straight into the bedroom without saying hello. There was simply no time to drink nutritious soup or something.
“It was too hot, so I just didn’t drink it.” Chen Ju said nervously.
Jiang Zhou touched it lightly with the back of his hand, picked it up, and handed it to Chen Ju: “It’s warm, drink it.”
Chen Ju stared at the bowl of soup, then glanced at the cake in his arms, and said reluctantly: “Can I drink the soup later? I also want to eat the cake.”
After drinking the soup, you wouldn’t be able to eat the cake anymore.
“No way.” Jiang Zhou reached out with his other hand to take the cake box from Chen Ju.
Upon seeing this, Chen Ju hurriedly hid the cake box behind his back and said anxiously: “I’ll drink it, I’ll drink it!”
Holding the bowl, Chen Ju gulped down the soup and let out a satisfying burp. Noticing Jiang Zhou watching him, the area behind his ears turned burning hot, and he sheepishly lowered his gaze.
“Can I eat the cake now?” Chen Ju put the bowl down and asked softly.
Jiang Zhou sat by the side and said lightly, “Your cake, you can eat it whenever you want.”
His cake.
My mother used to say the same thing, buying him cakes and letting him eat them however he liked.
Seeing that the man kept staring at the cake box with no intention of opening it, Jiang Zhou clicked his tongue and stood up to get closer.
“Can’t you even open the box?” Jiang Zhou untied the complicated knot and opened the cake box. Inside was a six-inch chocolate cake with a ring of strawberries around the edge and a small orange drawn in the middle.
“There’s no need for more than twenty candles; just lighting four will suffice to convey the sentiment.” Jiang Zhou took out four candles and inserted them into the cake, then lit them with a lighter. The flickering candlelight was reflected in his eyes as he looked up and said, “Make a wish.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Zhou saw tears rolling down Chen Ju’s cheeks without any warning, as if a switch had been pressed, and Chen Ju suddenly started crying, just like the last time in the hospital corridor, without any prior signs.
Jiang Zhou remained silent, not saying a word, just quietly watching Chen Ju. The candles on the cake were still burning, flickering between them.
Chen Ju wiped his tears haphazardly. It was so strange; he clearly didn’t intend to cry. When his mother hit him on the head, when he left the hospital, when he was looking for needle and thread to mend his cotton-padded jacket, he didn’t feel much at all.
However, just a moment ago, his heart suddenly hurt so much, as if a huge hole had been torn open.
“It looks terrible.” Jiang Zhou supported Chen Ju’s neck and brought him closer, pulling out a tissue to wipe away his tears. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something, reached out to brush aside the strands of hair on the man’s forehead, and a coin-sized dark purple bruise came into view. His expression immediately turned cold.
When his hair was moved aside, Chen Ju was awakened, hurriedly pushing Jiang Zhou and fixing his hair with his hands. He said with red eyes, “I… I made a wish.”
After speaking, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes to make a wish.
*****
Thank you for reading🙇
Thank you for the chapter!
My babieeeee!! Sweetness for the precious orange, please…. Thank you for the chapter!
Such a tsundre
Poor baby orange 😭 jiang zhou you better shower him with more love and care and affection or else imma go there and beat some sense into you!!
Jiang zhou I am coming for you if you don’t dote on him for the rest of your life and atone for your sins